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THE ENLIGHTENED ONE - KARMA SERIES I (IDENTITY)

Winterkill··4 votes·1,021 views

SERIES I: KARMA'S IDENTITY

What is Karmas role in this game? What is Karmas place in Runetarra? Why don't other champions know about Karma or interact with her? In this particular IV Part Series, we are going to talk about how Karma really has no identity in any part of League of Legends. We will also talk about what she could be with a little hard work and love from the community and Development team.

Karma's role in itself is poorly conceptualized and really isn't cohesive. She has a mixture of so many different playstyles that it is almost impossible to say what she is. Riot Games themselves categorize Karma as an Enchanter/Battlemage hybrid, but her kit leaves a lot to be desired. The Enlightened One has probably one of the most confusing kits for what she is supposed to be doing. Karma is classified, by Riot Developers, as an Enchanter/Battlemage hybrid. It doesn't make sense that she has a bunch of different playstyles on her abilities.

By Riot Games: Battle Mages get into the middle of the fray, seeking to wreak havoc upon the entire enemy team with their overwhelming sustained area damage. Due to their relatively short (but not melee) combat ranges and the need to burn down their opponents over time, Battle Mages have significant defensive capabilities that range from sustaining endlessly to literally defying death for a short period of time.

This champion doesn't do a very good job at what you are telling us she is supposed to be. I really want to get into battle with Karma and be the battlemage I am supposed to be. I don't want to sit in the back and spam mass shields and nothing else. Karma is a battlemage that can stand on her own while also leading her allies into battle. Riot Games does that well with her mass speedboost . . . . but what is so terrifying about a battlemage that does nothing but buy shield enhancing items and spam R+E. I am playing Karma mid and top lane. I am buying shield enhancing items and spamming R+E to be useful.

Let's now talk about Karma and her presence in Runeterra. Karma is the soul of Ionia made manifest and an inspiring presence on the battlefield. Karma is adored for her powerful connection to the spiritual realm and beloved as a just mediator amongst her people, Karma became a formidable leader of the Ionian resistance. We don't know anything about Karma besides the fact that the people in her village respect her for unknown reasons. We do not know why Karma has such a strong connection to the spiritual realm. We do not know how Karma acquired the favoritism of all her people. We do not really know of any interactions with Karma and other champions in League of Legends because none of it is mentioned. Karma is such a generic character in this game that it really astounds me that nowhere is Karma ever mentioned in taunts, interactions with other champions, lore, art, and other stuff . . . . . It just seems like Riot doesn't really know who Karma is.

I want to have a reason to hate Karma as a character. I want to have a reason to relate to Karma on some human level. I want to know how and why Karma has such a strong connection to the spiritual realm. I want to know how and why the people of Ionia and her village adore Karma. I want to know about all of these fierce battles she fights in as a leader of the resistance. I want all of this to be properly conceptualized on Karma and to have it be reflected in her gameplay, art and character. Riot Games has yet to do this.

When Karma was relaunched 4 years ago, Riot decided to remove almost everything players loved about her. We won't go into complete details about this but mainly her shield bomb, dress, and fans. If her shield bomb, dress, and fans were so out of character to you, why did you replace it with a character that has nothing and is so poorly conceptualized in game and her art, that you have yet to do anything four years now. This is a problem you continue to this day when you rework champions like Malzahar and Morde. You don't preserve what the fans love but you remove it for an idea that is almost never properly done. I do not see a beloved, strong leader out of Karma. I do not see the Enlightened One out of Karma. I do not see a champion that can shoot twin dragons from her body. All I see is a character with zero personality, no connections or interactions with any other champion, a hardly explained lore, and a champion that is not properly reprsented as her role.

What do you guys think? Who do you think Karma is supposed to be? Do you know who Karma is?

Look forward to Series II very soon. As always, stay frosty.

  • Winter

7 Comments

red panda z7 votes

I feel like Karma was reworked during a really awkward time. The beginning of 2013 was still pretty early in League history, and it wasn't until Yasuo got released later that year that we really started seeing this change in character design.

Yasuo had something never-before-seen in League, his wind wall. This was a massively unique mechanic that started to inspire Riot to try and create a truly identifying feature in each character. Gnar's release later in 2014 was what fully tipped that scale, and every champion created from him onward had something so iconic, that you could recognize those champions by that new special 'thing' that made them special.

Azir could temporarily rebuilt towers. Kalista permanently bonded with her support and relied on them to use her R. Rek'Sai was the first female monster that didn't have boobs and a figure, as well as had her mechanics of burrowing. And of course Bard with his chimes.

The list continues, but Karma doesn't have that. Karma has her Mantra, but that's extremely tame when compared to other iconic differences, and has similarities with other skill-changing ultimates like Nidalee. So what does Karma have now? And what did Karma have pre-rework?

Pre-rework Karma wasn't as bad as she was made out to be, but had very simplistic aspects and clunky mechanics. Her old W, for example, was extremely awkward back then, not doing anything to her target, but having an effect on champions that ran through it. I'd like to think that this would actually be a lot better nowadays since ability clarity and communication of champion abilities is much stronger. Thresh's lantern, Kalista's ultimate, and Tahm Kench's as well all show that we can rely on our allies to make use of our abilities. Looking back, however, is not the answer for a better Karma.

What pre-rework Karma had that current Karma is lacking was a kit that represented her emphasis on karma and duality. Each ability worked with two opposite aspects that worked in harmony with her kit. Q -> A damage cone. With mantra, it both Hurt enemies and Healed allies. Two opposites: Hurt and Heal. W -> A tether that would slow target enemies or speed target allies. Additionally would slow and speed up any champions that passed through the tether. Two opposites: Speed and Slow. E -> A potent shield. With mantra, it both applies and shield and burst nearby enemies. Two opposites: Shield and Burst. This focus in on two opposite effects working on the same skill matched her lore and her theme. Her passive was awkward to balance, but it was thematically appropriate, and players of Karma loved how the power built into that passive allowed them to act as forces of actual Karma. If you burst me down, I will burst you down harder. It might not have been healthy, but it delivered on what we wanted, thematically, from Karma.

What current Karma lacks is an identity. Her kit is a hodgepodge of everything minus team-healing. She can damage, slow, root, heal herself, shield, and boost speed. Unlike pre-rework karma, there is no duality in her skills. Q -> A damage with slow. Mantra adds more damage. W -> A target tether that roots after a set time. With mantra, heals Karma. E -> A shield that also boosts the speed of allies. With mantra, the shield spreads to all allies. This isn't a harmony of opposites, but a series of effects that run together without any real spirit. What's more, her passive is pitifully uninspired in a world where champions like Ivern, Kindred, and Kled actually change the way the game is played. This might sound like I'm bashing the current Karma, but what she has more than she ever had before was effectiveness. While her kit is rather bland, it gets the job done.

So does Karma need a new rework? Definitely not to the extent that she had before, but an update could definitely be in store for her. So what does she need?

A new passive: Karma needs something that feels empowering to take advantage of. Her current passive is forgettable and doesn't inspire players to make plays off of it. Give Karma something special that will iconically define her.

Switch kit effects around: Remember the harmony of opposites in her old kit? What if there was a way to restore that harmony by having her new kit work in two opposites likes before? This doesn't mean they need to be the exact same as before, but work with two opposing forces.

Take her W for example, currently you can tether an enemy who will be rooted after a short duration. What if you could target an ally to grant them a gradually regenerating spell shield as long as the tether remains in tact? Two opposites: A root and CC prevention. It doesn't need to be exactly this, but you get the idea.

Allow players to toggle her fans on and off: Karma's old players miss her fans, but they exist in her dance. Back when they revealed they were returning her fans with the dance emote, it felt like a kick in the face. This wasn't bringing something special back, but mocking the appreciation for her unique weapon choice by having it be nothing more than an additional asset on her dance, and not her combat. Heimerdinger is an example of a character that retained an old, toggle able feature: his swagger. By taunting, you can switch his running animation to his old wobbling movement if you so choose.

Karma players should have her fans appear when taunting and stay on until taunting again. They do not affect her animations or her play style, but just have her holding these fans as she runs around firing bolts of spirit fire. This would make many old fans happy.

In short, Karma is a champion that needs a fresh touch-up and some re-inspiration to recreate her design as a character of harmony, of balance, and of duality. We do not need to move backward, but we can use what we had to inspire our movement forward.

BrezeI4 votes
  1. She's not generic, she has a pretty unique play stile (an enchanter with all-in and poke is a pretty simple but innovative idea since other enchanters don't have that, except sona who is the only one here being generic).
  2. She finally has a niche which is all-in and poke (like Sorakawith sustain Janna with peel Nami with cc, they all have a niche).
  3. She's viable in competitive and soloq without being broken, she's in pretty good spot and her win rate demonstrate that.
  4. She's finally played.
  5. Jesus christ. Just wait for her lore. I don't know if you noticed but Riot is giving new lores to pretty much everyone.
  6. What? If you just use your R+E the whole game then just go watch Liquid Painless (challenger Karma main) playing her and learn something. Just because you just spam R+E then it's your problem, she can be played aggressively(item 3174 item 3504 item 3285 item 3151) or passively (item 3190 item 3107 item 3504 item 2301) which amazing because it actually creates strategy.
  7. Everyone says that Karma is fun to play, if you don't like shielding allies then it's YOUR problem. Everyone is having fun with the new Karma. I agree her kit should be improved but you do realise there are other champions who need a VGU more than Karma does, right?
IxtaliKing4 votes

She's not generic, she has a pretty unique play stile (an enchanter with all-in and poke is a pretty simple but innovative idea since other enchanters don't have that, except sona who is the only one here being generic).

When people say she's "generic" (or "bland", as Meddler put it), its because she doesn't add anything to the game which isn't there already. She overlaps quite heavily with other enchanters, but that's not solely her issue. But let's not forget that Karma's rework was and still is unfinished, there's still a lot to be determined.

She finally has a niche which is all-in and poke (like Soraka with sustain Janna with peel Nami with cc, they all have a niche).

I'm not sure that having all-in potential can really be considered a niche, even amongst Enchanters. Unless I have the wrong idea of what constitutes an "all-in", wouldn't Nami's R-Q-W-E be considered an "all-in"?

She's viable in competitive and soloq without being broken, she's in pretty good spot and her win rate demonstrate that.

This is absolutely true, so there's no immediate need for a rework outside of a class update (or possibly an Ionian event, according to Meddler).

She's finally played

To be fair, nobody really paid Karma much attention until Riot broke her RE in patch 6.6. Nobody really gave her a chance before that, but yeah, she's finally played.

Jesus christ. Just wait for her lore. I don't know if you noticed but Riot is giving new lores to pretty much everyone.

Agreed. Would be nice if they at least addressed some questions in regards to Karma, even if just to say "wait and see". They kinda give off the impression that she's not considered at all, even though we know that can't be true (I hope?).

What? If you just use your R+E the whole game then just go watch Liquid Painless (challenger Karma main) playing her and learn something. Just because you just spam R+E then it's your problem, she can be played aggressively( item 3174 item 3504 item 3285 item 3151 ) or passively ( item 3190 item 3107 item 3504 item 2301 ) which amazing because it actually creates strategy.

As somebody who loves an aggressive Karma, I can confirm. However, it's pretty much always best to build utility as support Karma. Unless you're able to get fed, buying AP items is a myth. Items like Redemption and Locket are pretty much must buys for enchanters anyway, and they enhance her RE "shieldbot" playstyle so much more.

I agree her kit should be improved but you do realise there are other champions who need a VGU more than Karma does, right?

Absolutely agree.

SilverSquid6 votes

I find it weird that Winter is mainly talking about her lore and identity, while you haggle so much about ingame mechanics and playstyle. But that's my appartement anyways, so here goes:

  1. She is "generic" as in that her whole theme is just a bland "unleash mage". She has no interesting spell mechanics, her magic has no flavour, she has no unique weapons. Her whole kit is a combination of previously existing mechanics mashed together. Calling "an enchanter with all-in and poke" innovative is a joke. Most enchanters have some kind of pokey behaviour in lane and then enough CC to force an all-in.

  2. "All-in and poke" as a niche? What do you take all the other botlane mages for? Shouldn't a niche be something that could be filled by a single champion and this champion alone? Besides, if THAT is her supposed niche, it progresses badly during the game, as this playstyle gets replaced by shieldspamming in lategame.

  3. I don't think that winrates is something winter is talking about. And winrates/playrates aren't the only/final factor in a discussion. There is more to champion design than that.

  4. She always has been played. The reason why she is played is interesting. It's like saying Lee Sin has no issues because he is played a lot.

  5. I agree. I have no reason to doubt that Riot will do her lore eventually. Most likely during a Ionian event. However, I realize that this has been a painful issue for a long time now and thus feeling more emergent to Karma fans, than it might actually be. Mainly because she is one of the few champions that had nearly more lore taken AWAY from her, while others get stuff added to them. I think they just want to hear for once, that Karma indeed has an unsatisfactory backstory/interactions. That is all. How justified this request is, is debatable, but I understand the urge.

  6. The point is that she is tied to certain mantras based on her build, instead of the mantras providing her with meaningful decisions no matter what items/lane. It speaks to how incredibly thoughtless her reboot was. Currently it is confusingly easy to be 95% effective with Karma by playing her support and exclusively mantra'ing E after laningphase. Which is unsatisfying. Considerably more so if you remember her having actual decision making at an earlier point (which is what made her interesting to most of her original fans).

  7. "Everyone says Karma is fun to play". No. Not true. Even if it was true for "most" players, it still wouldn't constitute a good argument. The discussion here is one of potential. And of the missed opportunities in her past touchups. I mean, we both agree that she could be better. And maybe a considerable amount of people would say she USED TO be better. Not in terms of popularity. Not in terms of winrates. But in terms of ingenuity, design, uniqueness and decision making. Sure, sure, there might be thousands of people who enjoy a simple, popular champion that has been buffed into the meta and had 90% of her depth patched out over time. They might enjoy playing a champion that has so little depth that mastering her takes little effort, but learning her is still rewarding. I keep saying that Karma is hard to learn and easy to master, which is stupid in terms of game design, but actually pretty attractive to a certain middle class of players. She should be too hard for newbies and too boring and unsatisfying for pros (so it's nice for those in the middle). The bad part was overbuffing her instead of adressing her issues made her way too safe to play, to not abuse her shielding power in teamfights, that take little to no skill, but also can't fail.

See look, I don't get all of this hate between Old and New Karma fans. I have once tried unifying the playerbase with one of my reworks, and apparantly there IS another way between. And I would love to fight for that. I do understand that people fear having something taken away from them, but I also understand those who see her missed and misstreated potential. And yes, there are things more urgent than Karma, but why wouldn't we be allowed to talk about it in the meantime? Why shouldn't Winter make a post getting the community together and exploring those thoughts?

alekzu4 votes

This is what I think of Karma... and before I even start excuse my lack of expression and discussion since I am so terrible at it. I like current Karma a lot actually. Even if I know that she has so many problems and even though I know that she needs work I just can't help but adore her so much.

  Her lore is something I enjoy immensely. Many Karma mains and players expressed that they find her lore boring. I don't know if that is because of the lore itself or because the lore represents so little about our beloved champ. I would definitely love to see Rito expand on it. Personally I like the idea of: "Karma is the soul of Ionia made manifest". I like to think of her as some kind of an avatar of Ionia. As for Ionia...not just some kind of ordinary lands but some kind of an entity that has it's mind and imbues all living creature, human and plants with magic. That this "entity" chose Karma and uses her souls as fuel to manifest in the form of the twin dragons. This is of course my own fan fiction but I like to think of Karma as a very powerful mage that hold incredibly strong magical powers.

  This actually leads me to comment on her old outfit and fans. Personally I don't have that much against the fans but I find the twin dragons much cooler so I would chose them as weapons any day. The traditional dress? What is that? We are talking about Karma? Or this is just a name given to the character? I like to think of it as "We call this champion Karma because she is about the Karma tradition" and not some kind of black/white dress that the first time you see it you will think of Yin Yang. 

  I do agree even her current outift doesn't make you think of Karma( as tradition ) when you look at it for the first time but at least I can see it somehow resemble it. Inconsistencies like more cloth on the other side and bare skin on the other, more jewels on one side less on the other and even her hair style resembles such a thing. Call me crazy but I can see that they at least tried to represent her by their own ideas, own outfit and own colours of green and purple( we see less of if than the green ) instead of the white and black Yin Yang.

  I do not wish to show disrespect to the people who fell in love with the old Karma and I know how they feel when their champion got stripped from so many things. I personally don't know what I would do if current Karma would disappear. But I think that the best, we as 2 divided karma communities, can do is to try and find this middle ground. A ground where we have a champion build upon the success the old and current Karma posses/ed.

  Why do we need to remake her? Why do we need to give her new mechanics? Her new remake can be successful. But it can be another failure as well. We can see it with the current remakes. Not all of them are successful. All it can do is: old Karma fans are still unsatisfied, current Karma fans start to dislike her too and a new community is born that likes the new remade Karma. We end up with 3 different communities liking different iterations of the same champion. This can only create chaos and even more disagreement in the future topics. We don't need that. This is why I think we need to work into implementing the successful elements of both Karma's iterations, the old and current one.

 Another thing I wanted to mention is that I somehow understand if they don't give new champions interaction with her. They don't know what to think of her so why make quotes that talk about her and mention her when we know she will have changes/remake and these quotes may stop making sense. It's just waste of resources.

Sorry for my bad expressing and if I offended someone but at least I found the courage to write down my opinion :D Much love to all Karma mains!!!

Winterkill3 votes

{quoted}

This is what I think of Karma... and before I even start excuse my lack of expression and discussion since I am so terrible at it. I like current Karma a lot actually. Even if I know that she has so many problems and even though I know that she needs work I just can't help but adore her so much.

  Her lore is something I enjoy immensely. Many Karma mains and players expressed that they find her lore boring. I don't know if that is because of the lore itself or because the lore represents so little about our beloved champ. I would definitely love to see Rito expand on it. Personally I like the idea of: "Karma is the soul of Ionia made manifest". I like to think of her as some kind of an avatar of Ionia. As for Ionia...not just some kind of ordinary lands but some kind of an entity that has it's mind and imbues all living creature, human and plants with magic. That this "entity" chose Karma and uses her souls as fuel to manifest in the form of the twin dragons. This is of course my own fan fiction but I like to think of Karma as a very powerful mage that hold incredibly strong magical powers.

  This actually leads me to comment on her old outfit and fans. Personally I don't have that much against the fans but I find the twin dragons much cooler so I would chose them as weapons any day. The traditional dress? What is that? We are talking about Karma? Or this is just a name given to the character? I like to think of it as "We call this champion Karma because she is about the Karma tradition" and not some kind of black/white dress that the first time you see it you will think of Yin Yang. 

  I do agree even her current outift doesn't make you think of Karma( as tradition ) when you look at it for the first time but at least I can see it somehow resemble it. Inconsistencies like more cloth on the other side and bare skin on the other, more jewels on one side less on the other and even her hair style resembles such a thing. Call me crazy but I can see that they at least tried to represent her by their own ideas, own outfit and own colours of green and purple( we see less of if than the green ) instead of the white and black Yin Yang.

  I do not wish to show disrespect to the people who fell in love with the old Karma and I know how they feel when their champion got stripped from so many things. I personally don't know what I would do if current Karma would disappear. But I think that the best, we as 2 divided karma communities, can do is to try and find this middle ground. A ground where we have a champion build upon the success the old and current Karma posses/ed.

  Why do we need to remake her? Why do we need to give her new mechanics? Her new remake can be successful. But it can be another failure as well. We can see it with the current remakes. Not all of them are successful. All it can do is: old Karma fans are still unsatisfied, current Karma fans start to dislike her too and a new community is born that likes the new remade Karma. We end up with 3 different communities liking different iterations of the same champion. This can only create chaos and even more disagreement in the future topics. We don't need that. This is why I think we need to work into implementing the successful elements of both Karma's iterations, the old and current one.

 Another thing I wanted to mention is that I somehow understand if they don't give new champions interaction with her. They don't know what to think of her so why make quotes that talk about her and mention her when we know she will have changes/remake and these quotes may stop making sense. It's just waste of resources.

Sorry for my bad expressing and if I offended someone but at least I found the courage to write down my opinion :D Much love to all Karma mains!!!

You are fine. Unlike the other guy, you were nice about it. At this point, I just want the Developers to make her a complete champion. Karma just doesn't feel complete to me and is just all over the place. If they want to remove her fans then they should really go all out with the twin dragons and her mantle with the lore, art, and kit. Unfortuantely it is a poor representation of what I think they want to do. It just feels like everything on her is an afterthought with litterally . . . no thought going into her development or updates.

I don't think she needs a VGU . . . I think they need to do a lot of editing to make her a cohesive and complete champion. For the past 4 years they have not done that. Karma mains just want their champion to get the same amount of attention Ryze, Ahri, Jinx, Ekko, and other champions get.

Forbidden Siren1 votes

I wish I had the chance to experience old Karma. While I love current Karma, my favorite champ of all time, old Karma look a lot more interesting. I do hope that one day, they bring back her old kit but give it to a new champ. That way, those who love current Karma can still play her but by creating a new champ, it'll cater to the old Karma players. Perhaps have them both be related, like sisters? Wishful thinking.

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