Boards›Gameplay

I hope Karma's current dominance prompts Riot to rework her sooner rather than later...

Dunal·6/20/2016, 5:26:13 PM·4 votes·661 views

Inevitable that she's going to be nerfed shortly as well.

It's a bit sad how the only way Riot's made her competitively strong is by massively over-tuning her numbers/base values. She is one of, if not the most buffed champion in the history of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I actually find her quite fun to play. She's my most played support since Season 3. The issue is that Riot's only going to nerf her to the point where she's no longer going to be worth picking over another support/mid that actually brings something unique to the table.

And I feel Karma suffers from this identity issue possibly more than any other champion in the game. She isn't defined by anything, she just happens to have some really strong numbers on some really basic abilities.

It's a shame because I really do love her design and mantra mechanic. But the old Karma, as flawed as she was, at least brought something interesting to the game despite being near impossible to balance. Riot needs to give some of that flair again. Rather than having a completely zero-risk design that is the current Karma.

Here's hoping Riot can take some far bigger risks in her design going forward to actually make her stand out.

5 Comments

Vanjie6/20/2016, 6:09:59 PM3 votes

What I want for Karma:

A proper VU that Riot didn't give us three years ago. She received a rushed, sloppy, and lazy VU that does nothing for her. If she received this it would help A LOT with her identity issues and make her more unique.
A true passive that offers a new way to play Karma . . . even if it is a neat mechanic like Tayliah's. In the end I would want a passive that helps her late game, at the expense of her early game pressure and over buffed kit numbers. Karma's current passive should be moved to her ult and she should get something more original and unique to the champion itself . . . . maybe even something that gives her a niche in this game . . . .
Her old shield bomb back . . . . . only if they decide to keep Iron Locket of Solari in the game. If Riot decides to remove it, like I have heard them say in the past, then keep her mass shield ability . . . . but her shield bomb was loved by everyone and most players want it back.
A new W and W+R . . . . or reworked. It's the most bland ability in her kit.
Able to use Q+R like a Vel'Koz E . . . . where it can be placed anywhere on the map. A neat mechanic would be that instead of the final burst of damage . . . . it releases a healing explosion instead.

MisterShameless6/21/2016, 12:34:23 AM2 votes

The thing is Karma received a nice buff on the same patch that Lulu got nerfed on both her AP and Base numbers (when all she needed was her ap ratios touched on). Karma was the "next best thing" because of how similar those two were. While I agree she is over tuned in one area (being her R+E), she is fine where her Q and W are right now. Her W isn't instant damage or CC and her Q is easily blocked by front lines and tanks. My only thoughts are to move power away from her R+E into her R+W, make her tether snare for both half the duration and bonus time when broken. This way she has more reliable tether and a less over power shield. This is my solution/idea on her giant shield.

One last thing to mention, after the Karma buff and Lulu nerf, Karma's play rate sky rocketed for both mid and support. I believe her play rate was 0.80% for support and 2% mid to now a 8.16% for support and a 2.75% mid. Her ban rate went to 0% to 0.45% (D:)

Even though Karma has since seen a lot of competitive play in LCS since her buff, her performance has been underwhelming for two reasons. One, being counter picked consistently, and two, being played too aggressively and getting caught out too often. I haven't really bothered watching them play her since I feel like I won't learn anything useful there. I was really excited to hear that she is played way more now, but had my expectations up way to high. Lulu is getting some nice buffs in the future along with upgraded support items (lower price and improved passives) in about the same patch. So Lulu may over take Karma in support again because of how well Lulu will synergize with the new items (way more than karma would).

So all-in-all, I think Karma is okay as she is with whats we will be seeing in the future patches that are around the corner. We will see less of her and back to Lulu taking the spot light. Pros aren't doing so great so I hope karma gets less attention and back to her old pick (0.5%-2%) and ban rates (0%)

Quepha6/20/2016, 5:30:14 PM1 votes

You find her fun to play She's viable in normal games without being overpowered She's viable in pro games without being pick/ban status And that means she needs a rework?

Also I disagree with you that she doesn't bring anything special to the table. She has a uniquely large amount of power at level 1 for a mage and her RE is the only ability in the game that gives an AoE speed boost and shield to potentially her whole team, plus it's on a relatively low cooldown. That's a ton of skirmishing and teamfight power for her team that works really well in some team comps and not so great in others.