[Chapter 2. Counter picks & Tips]
Disclaimer: This article contains curated tips, guides, other useful information posted on Inven KR by the users. Please note that such guides and information are not objective truths and may not reflect the latest patch or meta changes.
*Original guide from LoL Inven KR by 여캐장인임(Yeokaejanginim) [Link]
◆ Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages:
Shunpo, a top tier blink ability
Stronger in laning after the rework
Can carry a team effectively
Disadvantages:
Needs a lot of supports from teammates
Harder to play as tier goes up
Hard to control after the rework
Less contribution in team fights after the rework
After the rework, Katarina is stronger in lanes than in team fights. She can’t carry the team in late game like she used to unless she overpowers the other laners.
◆ Statistics
◆ Runes
Total price: 5,217 IP
These are the basic runes. You can raise defense, MP, MR, and AP with these even when you don't have enough rune pages.
Additional information about runes:
If the opposing mid is AP, then take off the DEF runes and add 9 scaling health runes.
If the opposing mid is AD, then take off the MP runes and add 9 AP runes.
◆ Mastery
Ferocity: 12 Cunning: 18 Resolve: 0
1. [Fury] vs. [Sorcery]: Katarina doesn’t need attack speed, so go with sorcery.
2. [Feast] vs. [Expose weakness] vs. [Fresh blood]
Katarina is a high risk, high return champion.
For damage dealing- Fresh blood/ For stability- Feast; it depends on you.
(But I recommend you not to go with Expose)
3. [Vampirism] vs. [Natural Talent] Katarina has 2 skills as AD, AP variables, so natural talent.
4. [Bounty Hunter] vs. [Double-edged sword] vs. [Battle Trance]: These are all good for Katarina, so it really depends on your play style.
◆ Summoner Spells
[Flash], [Ignite]
◆ Skill Build
▶ Katarina’s combo in team fights
Trigger [Voracity] with the basic combo [Bouncing Blade]→[Shunpo]→[Preparation]→[Death Lotus], and then [Preparation]→[Bouncing Blade]→[Shunpo] or [Bouncing Blade]→[Shunpo]→[Preparation], and then [Voracity]→[Bouncing Blade]→[Shunpo]→[Preparation]→[Voracity]→[Bouncing Blade]→[Shunpo]→[Preparation]
Repeat it over and over again. (After Lvl. 16, [Voracity], [Voracity], [Voracity] will refresh the ultimate ability [Death Lotus].)
※ Additional Tips
Your mastery of Katarina depends on your how fast you move your hands, how fast you calculate your damage, and keenness. There is a clear difference between someone who is good with Katarina and someone who is bad.
[Shunpo] is a tip tier blink ability you can use to kill and escape or go further into the battlefield. You can also use [Shunpo] to escape rights or chase an enemy.
◆ Items
After the rework, the [Longsword] is a very good starting item. There is a +1.0 bonus AD to the AD value from [Voracity], so it deals pretty high damage and also good for Shunpo-basic attack-cancel combo.
Katarina is a no-cost champion, so the item tree is highly dependent on how the opponents play.
I can give you the basic item tree, but you need to be able to change your item tree based on the enemies.
You may be curious about the [Hextech Gunblade]. After the balance update, the cooldown has become 40 seconds and has life steal, which can upgrade Katarina from a weak champ to a strong one in lanes.(with life steal + dirty farming abilities.)
(+ Even its lower-class item [Hextech Revolver] has damage.)
(+ The starting damage is decreased after the 7.2 patch, but it has the same damage later on.)
Use [Bouncing Blade], [Hextech Gunblade], [Shunpo], [Preparation], [Death Lotus] as a combo. Enemies will receive more damage from [Death Lotus] when they are slowed by [Hextech Gunblade].
+Prepare [Seeker’s Armguard] or [Negatron Cloak] if the enemy has a nuker.
+[Ionion Boots of Lucidity] only costs 900 golds and reduces the spell cooldown by 10%. This gives Katarina a good chance to use [Flash], [Ignite], and trigger [Voracity] frequently. If the Mercury’s Treads are too expensive for you then you can choose the Ionian Boots instead.
+Cooldown at Lvl. 6 if using the Ionion Boots (Q mastered first) [BouncingBlade]: 9.9 sec., [Preparation]: 13.5 sec., [Shunpo]: 9 sec., [Death Lotus]: 81 seconds
Basic item tree when fighting against an AD.
[Doran’s Shield], [Health Potion] as the first items or [Cloth Armor], [Health Potion]
If you have around 1000 after your first return, then go for [Seeker’s Armguard], [Health Potion], [Vision Ward].
If you have around 1400, then [Needlessly Large Rod], [Vision Ward], [Health Potion] or [Hextech Revolver].
After that, [Zhonya’s Hourglass], [Sorcerer’s Shoes], [Void Staff], [Rabadon’s Deathcap], [Rylai’s Crystal Scepter], [Hextech Gunblade].
Basic item tree against an AP opponent
You can see the items recommended above.
You can change replace MP shoes with Luden’s Echo.
+The [Abyssal Scepter] has weak damage, so it’s better to start with [Hextech Gunblade] and then [Mercury’s Treads]!
Rylai&Liandry item tree
[Rylai’s Crystal Scepter] and [Liandry’s Torment] may give the CC ability that Katarina doesn’t have, and the extra damage from [Liandry’s Torment] may make Katarina into a decent vanguard. However, the damage isn’t very high, so it’s hard to use them unless you’re already familiar with them.
Runic Echoes
You need [Smite] for this. It may weaken Katarina’s laning abilities at first, but having [Skirmisher’s Sabre (Runic Echoes)] increases the damage and movement speed. But it’s not recommended against nukers.
Indefinite items
[Quicksilver Sash] : Recommended against Fiddlestick and Malzahar. [Mercurial Scimitar] also adds damage, so it’s a good item.
[Luden’s Echo] : Increases movement speed and has additional damage, so it’s a good replacement for the Gunblade.
[Haunting Guise] : Not popular after the increase in price. It’s good in the beginning, but when upgraded to [Liandry’s Torment], it's not really good for Katarina.
[Guardian Angel] : Only recommended when the enemy only harasses Katarina. Normally not recommended.
[Banshee’s Veil] : Good against the enemies that can’t win against Katarina unless they hit her with a ability. (e.g. Lux, Ahri)
[Hextech Protobelt-01] : Useful when dealing additional damage after Shunpo or in retrieving daggers. The damage has been nerfed, so Gunblade is recommended instead.
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