Need advice from a Karthus Main

KnightOfEloHell·Jun 23, 2017·1 votes·604 views

So Karthus is one of the first champs I played when I started league 2 years ago.

Nowadays I am a one trick Morde who can Olaf on the side, but have been practicing Karthus the past 2 nights.

I really need tips on how to land q. I Aim ahead of where they are, and that works, but sometimes the q is behind my mouse and I miss completly.

I also feel Karthus would be better in free range screen, but idk how to play like that well.

I run scaling hp yellows, magic pen reds, ap quints, and AP blues for strong lv 1 q. I run exaust and ignite.

With lv. 1 Q, exaust and ignite, I can easily get first blood, but after that, bring on the feeding.

Also, I look at the map and ward all the time, and even when the enemy has no hp and I have lots of pen my ult won kill them

Tips would be really appreciated

6 Comments

Wet DrymanJun 23, 20171 votes

I think it will be better to hit that question to Karthus Mains subreddit. From what I've seen people there are very willing to help and give advices.

DoozkuJun 23, 20171 votes

Don't worry about missing all your Q's. Predict where they are gonna move and try to Q there. For an advanced trick, try to place your Q's in a way that forces the enemy to either take the Q damage in the face or walk back into a bad position, like in your E radius.

Also don't take ignite. Get flash and exhaust so that you can flash into the enemy team and play suicide Karthus.

KnightOfEloHellJun 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Don't worry about missing all your Q's. Predict where they are gonna move and try to Q there. For an advanced trick, try to place your Q's in a way that forces the enemy to either take the Q damage in the face or walk back into a bad position, like in your E radius.

Also don't take ignite. Get flash and exhaust so that you can flash into the enemy team and play suicide Karthus.

I a few things with Q as of now:

-hit where I think they are going -wait for them to come to last hit, and Q barely behind them in case they see it coming so that it still hits -use defile, and Q right outside of defile as they are running out of it

I don't want to play suicide Karthus tho. I want to play sustained dps karthus. I'll try suicide Karthus tho, but as of now I'm focusing on mana, hp, and magic pen and AP so I get the hang of him.

My early with him is pretty good, but I'm struggling mid and loads late.

I use e a lot, but build lots of mana so I don't run out

DoozkuJun 23, 20171 votes

-hit where I think they are going -wait for them to come to last hit, and Q barely behind them in case they see it coming so that it still hits -use defile, and Q right outside of defile as they are running out of it

That's fine. The best way to improve at landing Q's is to practice, practice, practice. Don't forget about toggling defile on and off when they run out of the range. You need to save as much mana as possible.

I don't want to play suicide Karthus tho. I want to play sustained dps karthus. I'll try suicide Karthus tho, but as of now I'm focusing on mana, hp, and magic pen and AP so I get the hang of him.

This is your problem then. Personally, Suicide Karthus is the #1 best way to play him in most situations. If you want a mage for DPS, just play Cass. When you play suicide Karthus, you don't have to worry about mana so you can just build more damage. You still deal a shitload of DPS, diving into the enemy team, activate defile, activate Zhonyas and deal a shitload of damage to the enemy team. Then when you leave Zhonyas they probably blew all of their spells on your teammates, unless you went in by yourself (which I wouldn't recommend unless you are contesting objectives, suicide Karthus isn't int Karthus). Then you want to position yourself in a way that will either divide the enemy frontline and backline, cover a large choke that the enemy needs to be in to fight, or on top of the enemy backliners so that you can get the most damage on them as possible. Land two Q's and then ult, maybe 3 if you bought cdr which I don't recommend but many Karthus mains in NA do end up building cdr. Suicide Karthus is just the best way to play the champ mid to late game. It just deals so much more damage late game and is way more consistent.

I use e a lot, but build lots of mana so I don't run out

Don't toggle E on unless there's someone in your range. I personally don't build much mana but I don't run out either because I focus a lot on toggling my E on and off when there's no point in keeping it on. Also as suicide Karthus you really don't need mana since you don't need mana when you are in your passive.

KnightOfEloHellJun 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

That's fine. The best way to improve at landing Q's is to practice, practice, practice. Don't forget about toggling defile on and off when they run out of the range. You need to save as much mana as possible.

This is your problem then. Personally, Suicide Karthus is the #1 best way to play him in most situations. If you want a mage for DPS, just play Cass. When you play suicide Karthus, you don't have to worry about mana so you can just build more damage. You still deal a shitload of DPS, diving into the enemy team, activate defile, activate Zhonyas and deal a shitload of damage to the enemy team. Then when you leave Zhonyas they probably blew all of their spells on your teammates, unless you went in by yourself (which I wouldn't recommend unless you are contesting objectives, suicide Karthus isn't int Karthus). Then you want to position yourself in a way that will either divide the enemy frontline and backline, cover a large choke that the enemy needs to be in to fight, or on top of the enemy backliners so that you can get the most damage on them as possible. Land two Q's and then ult, maybe 3 if you bought cdr which I don't recommend but many Karthus mains in NA do end up building cdr. Suicide Karthus is just the best way to play the champ mid to late game. It just deals so much more damage late game and is way more consistent.

Don't toggle E on unless there's someone in your range. I personally don't build much mana but I don't run out either because I focus a lot on toggling my E on and off when there's no point in keeping it on. Also as suicide Karthus you really don't need mana since you don't need mana when you are in your passive.

I like to let multiple minions get low, flip on defile, last hit all at once and immediately toggle off and lay waste to any remain minions.

I will admit that I'm so used to having my AoE Dot as W from 0 laying morde, sometimes I'll accidently use wall of pain when I meant to toggle off/on defile, and it eats my mana in more ways than one.

I'll try suicide Karthus tonight. It sounds fun. I think Rylias would be good tho for perma slow on q.

RoA, Rylias, Liandries, Ludens, Deathcap, and Void Staff maybe? Or should Ludens be replaced with sorcery shoes?

DoozkuJun 23, 20171 votes

Rylais isn't needed on Karthus unless you are new to him so that you can land those Q's. I recommend playing without it though so that you don't get spoiled with the slow. There are better items. Zhonyas is a must on suicide Karthus, the extra two seconds of free defile damage while in Zhonyas king. Also I don't ludens on suicide Karth. Doesn't help with your sustained damage and is more useful for bursting people with your R.

A standard build for me would be Roa, sorc boots, zhonyas, then either void staff if they are stacking MR, or Liandries otherwise. Then I get the other one that I didn't buy and Rabadons. You can also get a banshees if you need the MR like if they have a fed ap that's pushing you back hard.

https://youtu.be/Zx3sSOmvF3k

This is probably one of the best guides I've ever seen on any champ in league. This vid single-handedly got me into playing Karth, when I only had a slight interest in him before.