Tips for building karthus

in no particular order:

Nomicon for the cdr zhonyas for AP, armor, and active deathcap for extra AP void staff for more dmg (and for mr users) DFG for Ap and active AA for mana and more AP

You really shouldn't get unless they're full of healers. Most of your damage comes from your Q and you can easily finish enemies off with your R. Just wanted to point that out. Get for more Qs and overall more damage and safety.

Do not go . Sure it makes your R do tons of damage but you'll die instantly. You may think but my passive! Sure your passive lets you do like a couple more shots but being alive means more Qs in the long run.

A typical build is - It gives health, mana and AP. The health helps you when you go into a teamfight and do damage with your E and the passive heal helps you if you're struggling in your lane. - This synergizes so well with your E. And when you go into teamfights it works with your Q too. And the MR helps you survive against AP bursters and works well with your Seraph's shield and RoA health. - More AP = more damage. - It gives you the mana to spam, the shield helps you to survive when you go in with E on and it synergizes with your . - The magic pen helps you do more damage and movement speed helps you dodge skill-shots and get into position for more Qs. - Gives armor which works well with the RoA health and the active is great when an assassin like tries to kill you.

And remember that this is just a generic build. You should always change the build based on the enemy team. If they're full of people who have no dashes and full of movement speed buffs then consider getting a for the slow.

As a Karthus player, these guys all know their stuff. I would like to explain why I think you should get each item they say and which ones in which situations:

because each one of your spells (which you use all of the time) gives you extra maximum mana.

because of the speed and magic penetration.

because of the ability power, mana and health.

that transforms to as the extra ability power stacks with your extra maximum mana, and the shield is always helpful when engaging or disengaging in a fight.

for when you get focused in teamfights.

is an amazing item in my opinion for as he is able to double his E as a slowing aura, make his W mega-slow enemies where they can almost not even move, and all of his Qs slow, allowing him to catch up to anyone he hits with any of his abilities very quickly.

for the extra ability power.

for the extra magic penetration.

I would recommend this be your build order:

> > > > > > > > > >

So your final build should be something like this:

Sometimes certain items may be situational or you may want to build these items in a different order but as long as you get the general idea you should be fine.

Current typical high ELO Karthus cookie cutter build:

The High elo's stopped building RoA on Karthus a while ago, but I don't think most people have caught onto that yet. It used to be a point of debate, but then Rylai got buffed :/

BTW, the last 3 items are in no particular order. deals the most dmg in general is a must if they have a lot of MR is the strongest teamfight item in general, and the stasis synergises with Karthus' E.

I take andfor full cool down with the 5% from masteries
I don't like tear takes to long to be useful also rod of ages is sort of like tear you have to wait for the power were as you rarely go oom with Athens and u get mr and cool down with the ap exaughst is good against those ad mids like zed and yasuo flash is a obvious choice teleport or ignite are good instead of exhaust

,or , or

My build : first item

second item

Rabadons cost too much to be effective.

no one is mentioning the global slow on the ult

/

Something along those lines is standard. The last item is situational, but I'm personally a fan of either Rylai's or Zhonya's.

Try this.... ....it didnt work for me lol, but try it

if you really only want to one shot everyone one 20 stacks on

you either want to rush or as your first items, bc you need the mana. After that rush and , after that it's typical AP mage build. Just remember that there is a LOT of incentive to go full AP, so don't fall into a tanky AP trap (if you are mid, at least)