**Inspire (E) **

• Shield value lowered to 70/100/130/160/190 from 80/110/140/170/200
• Can no longer shield minions.
• Mantra Bonus - Defiance (R+E) now has same movement speed as E shield (40/45/50/55/60%) instead of 60%.

That's on the PBE right now. And it's horrible. A horrible, horrible idea, Riot. Let me explain to you why. Karma's gameplay currently has two huge problems:

• Low skill expression
• Lack of mantra diversity

Why Is low Skill Expression a Problem?

Karma players have two ways of showing their skill; 1) the ability to hit Q and RQ reliably 2) knowing when to mantra what Anything else in her kit requires the same mechanics as any other champion. But for a weird reason her skillceiling is very close to her skillfloor. The complete opposite of good design; she is too hard for newbies and lacks too much potential for pros. Because her playstyle is not intuitive (Is she a tank, mage or support? Where do I stand, what do I build?) but lacks depth (no surprising combos or clutch abilities).

Then why was she played in LCS so much? Because she can't fail. Her strongest (and overbuffed) ability, the AoE shield, is nearly always up, can't miss and can't be countered. The ability to never fail is very valuable in pro play. However, never being able to fail and not having clutch moments (like a Thresh hook) doesn't really get spectators exited.

So it's boring to watch and is causing game health problems. I'd like to know why Riot thinks it's a good idea to take away another small thing that experienced Karma players could do; deciding to cast RE on a minion, sacrificing some single target shield to hit one or two additional champions. Something that new Karma players wouldn't know or forget about. It's not that clutch, but Karma really hasn't much else left.

Why Is lacking Mantra Diversity a Problem?

Karma's identity lies in her mantra. Her whole kit and playstyle builds on it. It's supposed to be an ability, that grants you flexibility instead of power; giving you her the greatest toolbox instead of the biggest hammer in the group. Or to quote Riot on this: We also made sure Mantra empowers Karma's abilities in drastically different ways, leading to more impactful decision-making and a better feeling of accomplishment when you pull off the right move at the right time. However, over the years, this idea has been forgotten. Because, depending on your build, there is no real decision to make:

• **RQ **with its bonkers damage is nearly always superior on Midlane Karma.
• **RW **with its ridiculous CC and tankscaling is nearly always superior on Tank Karma.
• **RE **has just the most reliable utility, so it's nearly always superior on Support Karma.

So, instead of giving Karma a versatile playstyle, she has become a one-trick-pony in three different lanes. Making her unimaginative, boring to watch and either underpowered or oppressive. And once again Riot decides to INCREASE this problem by making RE even less of an option; if you didn't level E (which midlane Karma for example doesn't do), it makes RE MORE inferior option than it already is.

What about That E Nerf?

I actually was kind of happy, when I saw it, because that was Karma's first nerf since her implementation in 2011. It felt like a moment of normalcy. I mean, nerfing a 49% winrate champion is still kind of stupid, but other champions have been hit with a more unreasonable nerfhammer. And we knew the nerf had to be coming after her performance in LCS.

It's the other two changes that are really troubling me, because it seems like Riot keeps missunderstanding Karma's issues. Again: **Depth **is what she lacks, and taking away small tricks like the one with RE is what's killing her. Yes, I doubt it's a perfectly healthy mechanic, shielding/healing minions, but at least replace it with something interesting. Some other way to show that you have mastered Karma. Mantra diversity is what she needs. A reason to have different mantra options COMPETE with each other. It was a mistake to make RE's shield value scale with E instead of mantra levels. Now doing the same for MS makes RE even less attractive and pushes Karma into repeatedly mantra-ing only the spells she levels. Oh, and can I remind you of something?

Karma constantly only mantra-ing the ability she leveled was one of the reasons you guys reworked Karma in the first place. In her rework you introduced mantra-scaling damage, shielding and utility for a reason.

Hey, Complaining Is easy! What Would YOU Do?

• Remove the tankscaling from RW and replace it with values more appropriate for mages (flat heal, scaling with low health), to make it more of a competitor with other mantras and less oppressive on tank Karma.
• Give her damage options other than RQ. I don't know what was wrong about having damage on RW and RE. And people LOVED the shieldbomb.
• Remove that unneeded rootduration from her RW. It does not fit her theme, it does not benefit her kit, it's not reliable for her supporting. It's just clogging her power budget for no reason.
• Deciding whether you want Karma to be close or long range. So either make RQ more viable at short ranges (target ground AoE?) or make W/RW less reliable/oppressive at short ranges. Not deciding where she should be confuses Karma and her enemies alike.
• Also that passive. People really dislike it. Yes, it's probably the only thing rewarding good Karma players appropriately, but it's a thematic failure and it could just as well be an (overbuffed) ultimate passive.

The strange thing is that, whenever Meddler writes something about Karma, I completely agree with him. So I am utterly confused why the Karma changes in the last two years have been straight up missing her problems. I want to have a constructive discussion about those changes, before they go live. And I just think that it's a mistake to nerf a 49% winrate champion in a way that increases her problems.

So please, Riot, let's have a talk.