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Karma... (Riot please)

Duells·10/7/2014, 12:43:06 PM·1 votes·1,069 views

Seriously Riot,

We need to talk about Karma (or Karma Dharma/Darma as my friends call her now).

You have not talked with the Karma community since her """"relaunch"""" came out. From what I remember, you didn't even really communicate with us about her rework like you have other champions recently. The only thing you did do, was fix that awful dress that originally came out for her Sakura and Traditional skins.

I understand that a lot of people like the new Dharma/Darma. But that's not an excuse for you to just ignore the original Karma lovers.

I'm starting to agree with the small Karma community (or what's left of it anyway) that what Dharma/Darma is now should have been a completely different champion. Dharma/Darma is too generic compared to Karma who was actually fun to play with clutch heals/shields/etc. No other champion has that thrill of being low on HP, but still turning around and being able to fight with your team. There's seriously no reason to pick Dharma/Darma over any other mage right now.

Her change was too dramatic from the original Karma that Riot Coronach designed. Yes I'm aware they don't work at Riot anymore, but for God's sake at least talk to the people who loved the old Karma. Don't just leave the Karma community in the dark like you have with so many other champion's communities who haven't even gotten an update. (Galio, Yorick, Taric, etc.)

If anything, I hope to God that you guys learned from the community or else there is going to be a lot of Sion Sion threads popping up after his "relaunch".

As for the people who played the original Karma as well as the new "Karma", do you believe that she is in a good position right now? Or do you think that she needs some work done to her? Comment and share your ideas as well! We need to make our voices heard or else Riot will just continue to ignore her for the rest of the game's life...

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tl:dr of my Opinions (below):

Dharma/Darma needs: -something like Karma's old passive. -more range on at least her basic attacks (525). -more range on her Q2 (as well as something with the minion block?!). -a damage buff on her E2 (so it actually hurts enemies...)

Dharma/Darma has a high risk / low reward feeling to her.

If there is such a thing as a re-relaunch, I hope Karma is the first to experience it.

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Personal opinions on Old Karma vs. New Dharma/Darma:

Old Karma:

  • Passive: Had that feeling of "Karma is a bitch" and she'll kill you if you mess with her. Low HP = more power, I don't understand why the new Dharma/Darma couldn't have that. I don't see her taking out chunks of HP on single targets unless she's fed...

  • Q (Heavenly Wave): Dealt AoE damage, but didn't stop at the first minion it hit! Could actually clear minion waves with this.

  • Q2 (Mantra Heavenly Wave): Did the same as normal Q, but also added a heal. Yes I understand Riot hates healers (Morello), but no other Champion has a AoE heal besides Janna's ultimate.

  • W (Spirit Bond): Created a tether between Karma and either an ally or enemy champion. It sped up allies while it would slow down enemies. This skill would definitely be overpowered in games today because it affects both teams with the same cast while also dealing damage to enemy units.

  • W2 (Mantra Spirit Bond): Did the exact same thing as normal W, except doubled the numbers (speed, slow, damage)

  • E (Soul Shield): Put a shield around a single allied unit that you chose. Her old shield actually felt like a shield that blocked damage (especially when she had AP).

  • E2 (Mantra Soul Shield aka Shield Bomb): Put a shield around a single allied unit, but caused a huge "bomb" effect that caused damage to all enemies around the unit. (unlike the new one that casts a gentle breeze on the enemy...)

  • R (Mantra): Had 2 charges! So you could shield someone + heal them. Or catch up to an enemy with your tether.

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New Dharma/Darma:

  • Passive: Not really a passive at all. This could have been put on her ultimate as a secondary ability or something. Auto attacks and skills make Mantra (R) cool down by a certain amount of time with every hit.

  • Q (Inner Flame): Now a skillshot (which does not help those of us who completely suck at skillshots and cannot get better no matter how much we practice with them!) Also stops at the first enemy or neutral unit it hits. So during teamfights if you are focusing down an ADC, but your in the middle of 50 minions and try to Q them, the minions will block it and there is nothing you can do about it.

  • Q2 (Soulflare): Same problem as the normal Q. It's a skillshot that is easily blocked even though it is your "ultimate". The extra explosion is also pretty much useless as people can easily walk out of the circle before it explodes.

  • W (Focused Resolve): Another tether, but only works on enemy champions. It does not do anything for allies now. The range is VERY short and it can easily be broken if you are forced to stop chasing or have to back off the enemy.

  • W2 (Renewal): Same as normal W, but adds a heal to the first tick and the last tick. This feels good for Dharma/Darma, but it is still easily broken, especially when the enemy figures out that you are healing from it. I feel that it does not heal enough if you are playing her as a mage since she does not have that much HP to begin with.

  • E (Inspire): Shields a single ally and also grants bonus movement speed for 1.5 seconds. I cannot stress enough about how crappy this shield feels after being so used to Karma's old shield which actually felt like you could take a hit. This one is like a bubble compared to a brick wall.

  • E2 (Defiance): Shields all allies within a certain range of the target, and all allies are given a 60% movement speed boost for 1.5 seconds. It also still causes damage to enemies...but honestly I think throwing rocks would do more damage than trying to "shield bomb" with the new shield.

  • R (Mantra): Same principle as the original ultimate, however, you only have 1 charge of it at a time. Most of the time you get 1 ultimate per fight compared to the old Mantra where you got 2 "smaller" ultimates per team fight. Her new passive is obviously geared towards you being able to spam your ultimate as much as possible, but that does not help when your enemy can dodge every skill you have and can easily stay out of your crappy 525 basic attack range.

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So in conclusion, Dharma/Darma seems to be almost completely focused on her Q if you want to cause any damage to the enemy team now, while Karma had a close range as well as a far range damaging skill that could actually clear waves. She is like a high risk, low reward type champion compared to any other mage you could play instead of her.

After typing all this out, it feels like if Dharma/Darma had more range on her Q and basic attack range as well as a buff to the damage on her Mantra'd shield, she might be a lot more effective than she is now.

I am quite aware that many other champions need your attention at the moment, however I really feel that she needs to be looked at once again. Is there such a thing as a re-relaunch?.... If so I really hope that Karma is the first to experience such a thing.

8 Comments

The Mormonator10/8/2014, 8:30:20 AM2 votes

Bjergson's Karma PentaKill sums up my opinion on her rework.

wolfax10/8/2014, 4:00:13 AM1 votes

Stop with the Darma thing. It's annoying. Call her Karma because that is her champion name, and as far as I know you're the only person calling her this Darma thing.

Her Q got changed into a skillshot, yes. I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that you are just incapable of learning how to use a skillshot. If you can't then seriously all I can say is get better. Just because it is now a skill shot does not mean it needs to be changed because you are the one person that can't hit one. Her Soulfired Q is the same thing. It is also meant to work well with the tether in her kit which requires you to put in a little bit of effort to get the full effectiveness. It also hits like a truck if you can hit it.

The W works well with Q. Use them together. Also, if you soulfire it you can easily bait someone who won't expect you to jump up in health really quickly. She does well as a tankier mage, not glass cannon, so I doubt this will be as useful if you just build glass cannon.

The shield bomb is not meant to be a major source of damage. There's a reason you have Q which hits like a truck. The massive ally shield should not have great damage on it too.

Learn to hit you skill shots so you get the most out of your passive and build slightly beefier so you can stay in her short range.

Karma is actually a beast in 3v3s right now too. If you haven't played her there I suggest you do. She's very powerful in the early game and the shield bomb turns the 3v3 fights like crazy.

As a side note on Sion, he's so terribly designed right now I don't see how anyone likes the current him. He was never meant to be a mage and the only reason he is is because of antiquated design that was shut down a looooong time ago. Also, he has 2 separate build paths that let him play with 1/2 a kit. AP Sion gets point and click stun and massive AoE explosion shield. The shield is kinda fun, but point and click CC is for good reason being phased out. AD Sion is worse. He gets 2 passive abilities. One that's always going to be on with almost 0 drawback and one massive steroid that's just as boring but at least I guess you get to hit a button to get it.

Duells10/8/2014, 8:10:46 AM1 votes

Then tell me how the hell to "get better" with her new kit. 2 years of the old Karma and Riot just wants you to freaking relearn her completely. "You liked the old Karma? Oh well fuck you this is what we want her to be now". What runes do you use? What masteries do you use? How do you last hit minions when her basic attack does hardly nothing early game? How? Obviously the old Karma playstyle is forever stuck in my brain and unfortunately I don't own a memory eraser.

I've looked at at least a hundred guides, and YouTube videos since her relaunch, but it always feels like they're super overpowered early game while I'm struggling to even last hit minions with the new Karma.

I literally just played a game against Yasuo who constantly kept me under turret. I can't last hit with her because her basic attacks do hardly any damage early on, and she only has 1 offense skill to spam every 7 (or 5 at lvl 5) seconds. There is no way she can shove the wave like my team kept yelling at me to do. Even if the Yasuo turret dived and I managed to use Mantra W to heal myself and root him, he just kills me and walks off while the dumbass turrets keep attacking minions instead. I even built tanky early on with a GA and still couldn't survive a couple of hits from him. Then after the laning phase the only thing that I could do without dying is act like a second support...

End of the game I had Morello, GA, Deathcap, Void Staff, Sorcerery Boots, and Spirit Visage. Still couldn't survive 2 seconds in a team fight because the other team always focused me down first even though I couldn't do ANYTHING. If she's going to die in half a second anyway why build tanky instead of pure glass cannon AP?

The game just reassured me that the new Karma is all about her Q. Why should you use anything other than Mantra Q now? It still seriously feels like she has a high risk / low reward gameplay value though...

I would love for someone to show me how to play the new Karma and totally forget the old Karma playstyle, I guess I need more than 2 years to relearn her though after spending 2 years before learning her in the first place.

Duells10/8/2014, 8:49:50 AM1 votes

Old Karma could do that too lol... I'm starting to wonder what would it be like if they took old Karma and new Karma and made them into a new champion...

Duells10/9/2014, 4:48:52 AM1 votes

Still looking for a Rioter's opinion on this! :/

Duells10/9/2014, 10:52:53 PM1 votes

Where are you Rioters? :S

Duells10/8/2014, 3:22:55 AM1 votes

Bump.

Roman Holiday 179/5/2015, 6:26:04 PM1 votes

Karma is fine she isn't really broken or bad.