Firstly this isn't a rant or a critique, it's a just question.
I've seen various people on here say Karma's theme is "spiritual leader" which seems way to broad and vague to actually be a theme, especially since Illaoi could also be taken as exactly that. I know prior to her rework she had a bit too much going on with her Fans, duality, Karma etc... but what was it actually narrowed down to?
She throws green blobs of.... magic? I dunno. Without her baiting passive she lost her karmic touch. Without mantra giving her opposite effects she lost her dualistic touch. I just... don't....know?
Is continuously "mantra E" on your allies justifying being a leader? Isn't a leader someone who LEADS people into battle, not someone standing in the back shouting "you do that"? Isn't that rather, what a boss does, not a leader? Is repeatedly lobbing RQs at enemies providing anything thematicly that Lux or other champs don't already provide? And what the hell is tank Karma supposed to be?
I have so many questions and so few answers.
Overall I'd say it is about her being "the enlightened one",she uses spiritual power(which is likely supposed to be kinda different than regular magic),but honestly I feel that this is kind of a weak theme,or that at least the execution is very lackluster.
I thought she was supposed to represent balance, specifically the balance of violence vs peace. Maybe her lore changed, but the last time I read it, the lore went something like how she killed a bunch of Noxian soldiers despite her believing in non-violent peace. She realized the world needs a balance of righteous and evil violence in the world.
I guuuuuesssss her kit kind of resembles that? She has the option to do damage or protect. But I agree with just about everyone else in this thread that her theme is a bit weak.
I'm curious too, though if I had to venture a guess I'd say it's something along the lines of "battle priest" or "soul mage", with a strong leaning towards the latter since "battle priest" could potentially apply to Soraka as well.
Overall i have to say i'm a fan of this thread.
I think Karma is simply some sort of... idol of Ionia, someone who through her choices has been recognized as a wise but powerful woman, in short, the enlighted one.
She has a sentence that I think defines her "trope": I've seen two paths and made another between
She isn't much of an spiritual leader but just some sort of pacifist that leads through example, I say pacifist because she is heavily against violence but she is also heavily against sitting idle, she fights with calm resolve and overpowers her foes through sheer willpower, hence why drain tank Karma seems to work wonders lol
edit: I wanted to add that, most of her kit is in fact very reactive with the exception of Q, this is because Karma's theme is in fact the willpower pacifist, you can hit her all you want but you won't get anywhere (in theory) she will stand there (drain tank + shield) taking a beating until you tire yourself out and then she'll slap you and tell you: see? I told you, you can't win. And then she'll burst you out of her temple with a Q in the face
Effectively she's League's Buddha/Gandhi. She's a spiritual leader of Ionia, a land that is now more divided than ever after the Noxian invasion (despite a common enemy, many in Ionia have a different idea on just how they should progress to the future).
She's trying to find a balance between peaceful unity and military force, because extremes of either are going to leave to their downfall.
