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In a sea of Karma reworks, I give you mine.

lceWolf·11/1/2019, 11:48:13 PM·5 votes·3,901 views

This rework would hope that Karma gets a VGU update to include her Twin Dragons actually being involved in her kit, beyond being an ornament. The Twin Dragons represent Protection (Ouro) and Punishment (Boros) and will coil around Karma's Left and Right arm, respectively. I would like to thank SilverSquid for his work with the Twin Dragons theory crafting you can find here I'm borrowing his names for them as they are both good and convenient, though I take a different approach in their implimentation. The VGU of the Twin Dragons would not be necessary to introduce this kit, though I feel it would help Karma seem a bit less like a generic mage. Twin Dragons

Why does Karma need a rework: As many have said before me, Karma is not in a good place for many reasons. Flavor: Karma is bland. Very bland. I feel a VGU with the twin dragons being integral to how she delivers spells and deals damage would help give her an identity. Passive: Her current passive exists primarily to reapply mantra, which hardly adds to the character as there's usually only 1 mantra any lane wants to exploit (Top: RW, Mid: RQ, Supp: RE).
Damage: Karma's main source of damage is on one ability, her Q, which makes her hard to balance. Healing: Karma's healing scales completely based off missing Health, which is exploitable when stacking health and healing bonus items. It exasperates RW's power budget and leads to further balancing issues. Shield Battery: A good chunk of Karma's are either picked for, or are relegated to, being Mantra Shield batteries. An ability which has always been somewhat lacking in feel to me, as it can be replaced by items (Shurelya's and Locket). AoE Shielding and MS is hard to counter, and is only as good as the rest of your team is, but the unfortunate part for most Karma players is: THERE'S NO OTHER OPTION. Decision Making: picking up from last point, Karma has no real decision making for someone whom's ult revolves around decision making.

I would like to make a build focused on making big plays, instead of one just trying to reapply Mantra as much as possible. That is, to say, I want Mantra to be more impactful. To do this, we change her passive while spreading out damage and support options. My rework focuses on Karma as a Damage/Protection Mage, highlighting her Duality. Naturally, all numbers are up for debate.

Gathering Fire Passive: Karma gains a Stack of Gathering Fire everytime she hits an enemy Champion with an ability. Karma will also gain a Stack whenever she hits an enemy Champion with an ability or attack while she is affected by her W or E, or the targeted Champion is affected by her W. Allied Champions, currently affected by Karma's W or E will contribute a Stack of Gathering Fire everytime they damage an enemy Champion with a basic attack or ability. Stacks will decay outside of combat. When Karma activates Mantra, she gains +10AP for every Stack of Gathering Fire that will apply only to the Mantra'd casting. example: (R=>Gain AP/Lose Stacks=>Cast=>Lose AP). Karma has a limit on Stacks she can have at one time, based on level, from 5 to 30. (+50 AP to +300 AP).

Notes: This will make Karma more impactful, whichever ability she empowers, while also encouraging her to be staying in the fight, whether via supporting or offense.

Inner Flame Q: Functions as is. Slow removed. Karma send Boros forth, who flies in target direction, detonating with the first enemy hit, dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+70% AP) magic damage

Soul Flare RQ: Karma sends Boros forth, who flies in target direction, detonating on first enemy hit or at max range, dealing 80/125/170/215/260 (+65% AP) and a bonus 20/60/100/140 (+30% AP) magic damage. Ouro follows on Boros's tail, projecting a wave of energy that heals Karma and Allied Champions it passes through or in detonation range for 60/85/110/135 (+3% of Missing Health per 100 AP). Ouro's and Boros's energy combine at the detonation, leaving a lingering pool of spirit energy for 2 seconds. Enemies inside the pool are damaged for 30/55/80/105 (+30% AP) magic damage over 2 seconds. Allies inside the pool are healed for 30/55/80/105 (+30% AP) over the 2 seconds.

Q/RQ Notes: Slow removed from both Q and RQ. Moving Karma away from her harder Control elements, as her focus will be in Damage/Protection for this rework. W will have a slow. Less base damage on Karma's Q, but higher ratio, allows Karma to still have an impact with this ability at High AP, while making the poke of more utility Karma's feel less oppressive. Damage is more spread out in my build, so Karma can recoup some of this lost damage with the W and E, making her less of a "one shot" Champion.
Karma's RQ deals less overall damage than Karma's current RQ, but adds the duality of healing on top of it, allowing it to be a valid option for even non damage focused Karmas.

Spirit Bond W: Removed the tether/snare on both W and RW. On Enemy Cast: Karma sends Boros to harass the enemy Champion. Boros attaches to them and claws at them, Dealing 30/50/70/90/110 (+25% AP) magic damage over 3 seconds and slowing them for 15% for the duration. The damage and slow gain a bonus +0-100% bonus based on how close Karma is to the enemy Champion, up to 60/100/140/180/220 (+50% AP) magic damage and 30% slow. The closer to Karma, the stronger the bonus.

On Ally/Karma Cast: Karma sends Ouro to support herself or the Allied Champion. Ouro attaches to them and defends them, granting a bonus to Armor and Magic Resistance (7/9/11/13/15 +1 per 150 AP) and granting them +15% bonus Movement Speed for 3 seconds. The Armor and Magic Resistance and Movement Speed gain a bonus +0-100% bonus based how close Karma is to the Allied Champion, up to 14/18/22/26/30 (+1 per 75 AP) and 30% bonus Movement Speed. The closer to Karma, the stronger the bonus

Soul Binding RW: On Enemy Cast: Karma sends Boros and Ouro to harass the enemy Champion. Boros attaches to them and claws at them. Deals 30/50/70/90/110 (+25% AP) magic damage over 3 seconds and slowing them for 15% for the duration. Ouro sends Boros's energy outward from the targeted Enemy Champion, applying (40%/50%/60%/70%) the magic damage and slow to enemies in an around around the targeted Champion. The damage and slow gain a bonus +0-200% bonus based on how close Karma is to the enemy Champion, up to 90/150/210/270/330 (+75% AP) magic damage and 45% slow. The closer to Karma, the stronger the bonus.

On Ally/Karma Cast: Karma sends Ouro and Boros to support herself or the Allied Champion. Ouro attaches to them and defends them, granting a bonus to Armor and Magic Resistance (7/9/11/13/15 +1 per 150 AP) and granting them +15% bonus Movement Speed for 3 seconds. Boros sends Ouro's enegy outward from targeted Champion, applying (40%/50%/60%/70%) the bonus Armor and Magic Resistance and bonus Movement Speed to allies in an area around the Allied Champion The Armor and Magic Resistance and Movement Speed gain a bonus +0-200% bonus based how close Karma is to the Allied Champion, up to 21/27/33/39/45 (+1 per 50 AP) and 45% bonus Movement Speed. The closer to Karma, the stronger the bonus.

Notes: Removing the tether might by my most ambitious move on this rework, but its something I've wanted to see changed for a long time. Old Karma's tether never seemed to live up to its potential and Current Karma's tether was just... lazy, it didn't feel unique. I wanted to incentivize Karma staying near and being involved with the target, as the Passive rewards participation. This makes RW a damage option alongside Karma's primary team support option, requiring more decision making skill and allowing for more balancing options. The heal has obviously been moved to RQ. I went with Armor/Resistance here opposed to %DR as a genius'd RW could flip a game MUCH harder than intended in my head with %DR and it already had bonus MS. Armor/Resistance can be countered with items or true damage, while still being useful for forcing opponents to budget for those options.

Inspire E: Removed the bonus MS from both E and RE. Karma send Ouro to shield the target Allied Champion or herself for 70/105/140/175/210/245 (+70% AP) for 3 seconds.

Defiance RE: Karma sends Ouro to shield the target Allied Champion or herself for 70/105/140/175/210/245 (+70% AP) for 3 seconds. Boros ignites the spirit energy around the targeted Champion, dealing 100/150/200/250 (+100% AP) magic damage to enemies around targeted Champion.

Notes: Removed the bonus MS from both E and RE as it now exists on W and RW. E and RE have much stronger shields than Current Karma to make up for the lost bonus MS. SHIELD BOMB was Karma's iconic and unique spell before it was taken away and given to others. It is NECESSARY, as all empowered spells need a damage component for purposes of balancing Karma. RE has Karma's biggest AP ratio to reward proper placement, as you either need an Allied Champion in a perfect spot, or you place yourself at risk.

Mantra R: Karma empowers her next ability cast within the next 8 seconds, adding an additional effect. Activating Mantra will also trigger Gathering Fire, granting her a temporary bonus of +0-300 AP (based on number of stacks, cap increased with level) to her mantra casting.

I feel this rework would shuffle her capabilities around in a way that is easier for the Balance Team to manage while allowing the player to make decisions with more impact. I think the VGU focused around the Twin Dragons being more than just ornaments would allow Karma to have more of an identity, but is not absolutely necessary to implement this kit. Thank you for reading!

33 Comments

Siand11/2/2019, 5:59:16 AM2 votes

The ap ratios are sort of high as hell but the ideas are good.

alekzu11/2/2019, 7:06:02 AM2 votes

Hey there, I don't have much time right now but here are my thought on some of your ideas:

  • 300 ap from passive is just too much. It's luden + rabaddon(and it's passive) worth of AP. Needs lower values. Passives don't need to be impactful for all champions. What matters is, if it conveys Karma's theme.
  • W and RW slow strength based on how close you are to the enemy needs to be reversed. Mele champs already have enough trouble as it is against Karma. Reversing it makes it easier for meles to counter it as they need to get close to someone anyway to do something. You wanna slow enemies harder who try to get away. It also supports her joke that karma always catches up to anymone hehe. Also can you elaborate what you meant about the % dmr vs resistance? Sorry I am not native speaker.
  • E is a bit bland. Maybe it can give ap to the ally based on how much Karma would get from the stacks?

I like everything else though! If you want I can re-edit my post once I have a bit more of free time.

Dreamhare11/2/2019, 5:44:40 PM2 votes

I really love the overall idea and the twin dragons theme being explored. There seems to be harmony and simplicity in the entire kit. But some things bother me: without a single hard CC in her kit, both Mid and Support Karma's lane phase (mainly, but not exclusively) will become so much more vulnerable than it already is. Also, unlike every other given shield in-game, E will be lackluster and lean back toward the bland state without a secondary effect. Nevertheless, I am enjoying how much Karma reworks we are coming up with and posting here. That shows how much we care.

SilverSquid11/2/2019, 10:37:00 PM2 votes

Phew, that's quite the kit. Let's do this!

Theme Overall it seems like you tried creating your own Twindragon iteration. I appreciate it when people try to bring in their own thoughts and don't dwell too much on what's there. Ironically I am not 100% in favour of a TD-Rework at this point, since I think it costs more ressources than Riot is willing to free up, but we can always dream big and settle for something more realistic - but still improved - later.

Just be warned though, I will try to stay grounded in my criticism.

P - Gathering Fire I get the idea, but it has a very... warmongering feeling to it, rather than being about balance, wisdom or karmic effects. In terms of gameplay it tends to motivate people to hold onto their mantrafor too long. I believe that a skilled Karma should judge a situation correctly and choose the right timing based on the highest use of dualistic effects, not.... based on how much she fought. If that's what you were going for I do applaud you tho. There is merit to the "enduring hardship" and "enlightenment=delayed power" theme.

Q - Inner Flame I believe to change aspects of a kit you need good reasons. I agree with the intent of reducing CC on Karma and making her more about damage/protection instead, but Q in itself is a functional spell. One of the best aspects of her rework, I'd say. The 25% slow also could be there not for its function, but for flavour; sometimes Riot adds slow effects not to make a kit work, but to make hits feel good. I agree that the slow isn't strictly necessary, but I also wouldn't remove it too quickly; it renders Q a bit bland.

RQ - Soulflare Putting values aside, I don't think this works without making RQ ground targeted. I do like moving the heal on RQ, but attempting to hit your allies with it feels awkward. Sure it works wonders from the backline, but there are so many things that can go wrong. A random minion or a tank in your face shouldn't block you from healing your carry. Karma needs agency and I believe RQ needs to be ground targeted no matter if with heal or without.

W - Spirit Bond W is one of those abilities that - when reworked - always ends up a convoluted mess that just won't fix in the box of any spell description. I think you fell into that trap too. Having different effects on allies/enemies but also a second mode invites that. You could probably cut half of the descriptions in RW because they match W anyways. Putting that aside; I surprisingly like the idea of a proximity check, but not its implementation. Without a speedbuff or slow Karma has barely any agency over how close/far she is from her targeted W. Besides; abilities that both ask enemies to get away from you, but at the same time slow you, always feel self defeating to me. And as someone already stated, it makes the counterplay for pure melee champions non existent, even though the ability feels like it has a lot. It's a point and click ability that just stops bruisers from engaging.

And lastly, I do think tether can be redeemed. I know it's hard to work around and I gave up on it multiple times too, depending on my rework iteration, but I think I have found a middleground... you'll see it in my next post!

RW - Soul Binding Nothing to say here I didn't say at W already.

E - Inspire E As others have said in the thread; this makes the E incredibly bland. I think Q and E have been the best parts of the Karma rework and I see no good reason to change something. Keeping the change to a reasonable minimum lowers the risk of alienating people and thus getting more Karma fans on board!

RE - Defiance So E is basically old Karma's E/RE, right? I mean, I loved Old Karma, I really did, but for reasons mentioned above, I don't think we should quite go there. First, to keep as many Karma players on our side as possible, but also we gotta realize that old shieldbomb isn't up to today's design standards. Damage based on the target's missing%hp is something I am currently going for, on top of a small delay and/or travelling time on the explosion itself. I also experimented with increased explosion size based on the target's missing%hp, but that's a bit hard to communicate.

Final Notes Overall I like the direction you are going for with the rework and I see similarities in our desires, but I obviously disagree with some of the execution. For example I think not having any CC reduction passive or AA encouraging factor might be jarring for current fans and could be the reason for your undeservedly low ratings. You also appear to share my curse in often writing too much, which isn't working out too well on the boards. I can only advise you to learn a few editing tricks and then build on your already good structuring skills. Afterwards, try rereading your own post a few times and cutting as many redundant things as possible (I usually do this muliple times before posting, often writing every single paragraph at least twice).

Here's some editing tricks I use frequently:

A > at the start of a line makes a useful box that can cut your thread in digestible chunks

I am cutting things

A # also creates a title, increasing font size, while six of those ###### makes it tiny

I am Big

I am tiny

Adding links to jpgs or pngs can give color to your post, making it easier on the eyes. Just copy paste them in. The occasional Akali champion works too, but this creates bigger line pitches, which can look weird.

I hope I could help you out. See you around the boards!

Daddy Ants11/4/2019, 5:17:07 PM1 votes

AP Ratios are way too high imo.

7thHeaven11/2/2019, 6:09:00 AM1 votes

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Mavëríck11/2/2019, 7:51:51 PM1 votes

Sexy art and model. Approved and upvoted solely on this. I've never played Karma whatsoever in any iteration of the game lol

The Highest Noon11/2/2019, 1:49:42 PM1 votes

Karma was already reworked once lol not happening again