Katarina

Classic build

AP Assassin · Mid

Researched, pending verification

Items

Starting

• Boots of Speedroam start, with 3 potions
• Doran's Ringsafer-lane alternative, with 1 potion
• Health Potionx3 with boots, x1 with Doran's

Boots

• Sorcerer's Shoesdefault: magic penetration
• Mercury's Treadsvs heavy CC

Core build path

1. Deathfire Graspthe signature point-and-click nuke
2. →Rabadon's Deathcap
3. →Zhonya's Hourglassstasis to finish Death Lotus

Situational

Buy these only when the game calls for it. They are not part of the core path.

vs magic resist stacking

• Void Staff

keep targets inside Death Lotus

• Rylai's Crystal Scepterslow

teamfight burn (pairs with Rylai's)

• Liandry's Torment

sustain through a poke lane

• Hextech Gunbladespell vamp + active slow

vs heavy AP

• Abyssal Sceptershreds MR at melee range

if snowballing hard

• Mejai's Soulstealer

extra survivability

• Guardian Angelreset

Summoner spells

• Flash
• Ignite

Max order

1. Q
2. ›E
3. ›W

Max Bouncing Blade first for poke and waveclear; early points in Shunpo and Killer Instincts.

Ability leveling order from level 1 to 18

Ability	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Q	1			2	3		4	5
W			1											2	3		4	5
E		1							2	3		4	5
R						1					2					3

Runes

Marks

9/9

• 9× Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

Seals

9/9

• 9× Greater Seal of Armor

Glyphs

9/9

• 9× Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

Quintessences

3/3

• 3× Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

Masteries

21/0/9

Offense / Defense / Utility

Offense

21

1. 4/4
2. 4/4
3. 3/31/1
4. 3/31/1
5. 4/4
6. 1/1

Defense

0

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

Utility

9

1. 1/13/3
2. 3/31/2
3. 1/1
4. 
5. 
6. 

Notes

The infamous reset-assassin, and Season 3's highest pentakill threat. Her whole identity is Voracity: land a Deathfire Grasp, Bouncing Blade, Shunpo onto someone, Death Lotus, and every kill or assist refunds her cooldowns so she keeps going until the fight is won or she is dead. Squishy and easy to poke in lane, and hard-countered by picking her out of the Death Lotus channel (she is rooted casting it), which is exactly why Zhonya's is core. Roams better than almost anyone thanks to Shunpo and movement quints: a fed Katarina snowballs the whole map.

Not hand-checked yet, so treat these values as provisional. Source: Season 3 MOBAFire community guides (2012-2013), AP assassin mid; kit cross-checked against the LoL Wiki patch history.

Abilities

• 

  Passive

  Voracity

  Scoring a kill or assist reduces the cooldowns of Katarina's abilities by 15 seconds, a near-total reset. Chaining resets to keep bursting across a fight is the entire champion.

• 

  Q

  Bouncing Blade

  Range 675

  Katarina throws a dagger that bounces between nearby enemies, dealing magic damage (more bounces at higher ranks) and applying a healing reduction. Her main poke, waveclear, and damage.

• 

  W

  Killer Instincts

  Range Self

  Passive: Killer Instincts gives bonus flat damage on Katarina's abilities and melee attacks. Active: it empowers her next Bouncing Blade or Shunpo, and makes that Shunpo land behind the target.

• 

  E

  Shunpo

  Range 700

  Katarina blinks to any target unit (enemy, ally, or ward), dealing magic damage and briefly reducing the damage she takes if the target is an enemy. Her only mobility: gap-close, escape, and reset-chaining tool.

• 

  R

  Death Lotus

  Range 550

  Katarina channels for a couple of seconds, throwing daggers at the nearest enemy champions (up to 3) for heavy AoE magic damage plus a healing reduction. The teamfight nuke, but she is rooted while channelling, so she needs to survive it.

Base data from Data Dragon 3.13.24, not yet hand-checked. Old-patch ddragon values are unreliable and League Classic may differ.

Base stats

Health

425

+80 / lvl

Health regen

6.95

+0.55 / lvl

Attack damage

53

+3.2 / lvl

Attack speed

0.658

+2.74% / lvl

Armor

17

+3.5 / lvl

Magic resist

30

+1.25 / lvl

Move speed

345

Attack range

125