Low dmg with Katarina?

spoopysandwich·Oct 4, 2016·2 votes·1,969 views

Hi everyone~

I started playing Kat a couple of days ago and I love her. There's something that kinda bugs me tho. On this level 12 account, with close to no masteries and no runes at all, I can't seem to deal significant damage to enemy champs whatsoever. The first big item I get is Luden's Echo, then boots, then building up to Rabadon's or Scepter. Ive watched many Kat vids and literally in every video the Kat deals like 50-75% of the enemy's health with a combo. When I try to do that, I get like 30% hp off if lucky. And they don't even have defense.

Now to the Ult. I don't understand this. I shunpo to an enemy and use my Ult, but it does no damage? I'm honestly wondering what people do to hit so much with her. Even in team fights, I barely manage to get kills, due to the low damage.

What am I doing wrong?

11 Comments

OleandervineOct 4, 20164 votes

Kat's ult is channeled, so if you start putting in movement commands, you will shut it off. Her combo is this: QEWR. Q puts markers on enemies that deal more damage if she strikes enemies who are marked. This is why you E into the fray and then W, followed by R for clean up. R is a MASSIVELY powerful spell and deals in upwards of 1k damage or more if you let it run to full. This requires that you sit still for the duration though, and do nothing else. You need really good engage and CC to set up for a good R clean up. Her R though is where the bulk of her damage comes from.

WarpesOct 4, 20162 votes

It's called scaling. If you're unable to get ahead in gold/items, or remain somewhat neutral to the enemies you're against, you won't do much dmg as an assassin champ. Look at your farm vs theirs, your kills vs theirs... in the early game.

and if you're dying a lot, going 0-4, 0-5. they're just furthering the gap.

if there's one thing you should learn how to do it's getting the absolute most farm possible (on any champ really), especially since you're not really strong til 6. farm hard, poke, and above all don't die a lot. the idea behind laning isn't to just go all out and try to get kills. especially with a champ like kat, as, like i said she's not strong til 6.

try to go less than 3 times dying in your games for a while and see if you improve. or 5 times at first, then 3 as you get better, etc.

the more you play, the more you will understand these concepts and why it is that you're failing to do damage and get kills. but chances are most of the time you're against player who already understand how the game works...

just keep at it. watch videos that explain csing, and laning as kat.

ChamsaeOct 4, 20162 votes

Like all the other posts here, it's mainly to do with champion scaling.

Pre-6, it is neccessary that you try to farm an amount higher than your opponent. You should also think about denying the other laner any minions and sometimes thinking about helping your teammates get assists while you roam. This will allow you to get ahead in AP and deal much more damage. Don't forget about Magic penetration.

Also, about the way you said your ult? I'm assuming you use Kat's Q first to mark then E , W , R? Her Q effect is actually what makes her extremely strong in comboing. Don't forget to use it.

Lastly, it shouldn't be recommended that you compare your skills and damage to other players on videos and online, since you've told everyone here that you're only level 12. Many people in vids are 30, meaning they have;

Higher tier runes with AP scaling / Penetration.
Flat AP / Runes.
Better and more mastery points.

Since you're only level 12, I am certain that you do not have Thunderlord's Decree, a useful mastery for Kat dealing extra damage on her 3rd ability or hit.

Take these in mind!

VscaraOct 4, 20161 votes

Katarina can deal significant amounts of damage that get beyond control if she gets ahead, as somebody said before, it's scalling, if you get a few lvls ahead of your enemies your burst becomes unstoppable, but if you get put behind, you will barely do damage, it's not easy to get back to game from behind as katarina. also if you see your enemies starting to build ap resists you need to go for penetration either boots, abyssal scepter or void staff.

also don't try to engage at full hp team, your work as katarina is to wait till at least one or two enemies get low enough for you to kill them which allows your skills to reset and output more damage, also if you see your ult doing not enough damage you need to know when to stop channeling it and jump to other, squishier and more vunerable target with your shunpo or use it to retreat.

also masteries and runes can be the cause, having thunderlords decree really incrases your burst and since you don't have runes you lack ap and magic penetration early.

KãtãrinãOct 4, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Katarina can deal significant amounts of damage that get beyond control if she gets ahead, as somebody said before, it's scalling, if you get a few lvls ahead of your enemies your burst becomes unstoppable, but if you get put behind, you will barely do damage, it's not easy to get back to game from behind as katarina.

That is a lie. When behind its easy 2 come back. Just depends how far. If you are decently to slightly behind you just need one good team fight to snowball or even just get ahead soley from your passive. i don't understand how people think when shes behind shes 100% useless as her resets are such a powerful tool when compared to another assassin who is behind.

Rubbery SkrubOct 4, 20161 votes

Katarina has maybe the worst base damage of any assassin. The ONLY reason she is strong is because her spell cast times are essentially instant. This means if she gets ahead she can execute her combo very quickly and get resets.

VscaraOct 4, 20161 votes

I think early akali base damage is way lower than katarina and her lack of early mobility makes her pre 6 horribly weak comparing to katarina, tho her single target burst is incredibly more reliable and scales way harder than this of katarina.

Rubbery SkrubOct 5, 20161 votes

This is true, but Akali is so bad pre-6 that you almost have to put her into another category. In terms of base damage though I think Akali beats out Katarina once she hits 6... unless you count Death Lotus, but something has to go terribly terribly wrong for a laner to take the full damage from that ability.

spoopysandwichOct 4, 20161 votes

Hey thanks for all the replies.

I'm actually super efficient with lane farming, that's not the issue. I tend to never use the Ult because it just never works out for me. Whenever I use it, it literally seems to deal no damage at all, and gets me died.

Also, if I had a level 30 account with all the runes and masteries, my damage would increase significantly?

VscaraOct 4, 20161 votes

your early damage will incrase, and keystone masteries are often crucial right now, but still as katarina, your ultimate is your bread and butter, you need to cast it to channel enough damage, just try jumping in a situations where you will be hard to be stunned or blocked in any way, if it doesen't kill anyone it will at least make it low enough to kill it with another combo.

I think katarina needs some smart play like every assasin, i see people often calling her braindead champ that only needs to pres R to win, but it really isn't that simple. i still have problems with utilizing katarina myself, and i'm not really big fan of her myself i play more single target burst champions like akali.

ChamsaeOct 4, 20161 votes

Indeed it would. Runes such as Magic Penetration would be excellent at shearing down the opponent's AP resist early/late game. Flat AP runes mixed with armour/health and cooldown reduction would let you poke and all-in better. Just type up Katarina masteries and check what each mastery does.