Jungle

Karthus Build 26.22

The moment Karthus is on the map he farms toward one payoff, a global ultimate that reaches any lane and picks off low targets from anywhere on the map. On the weaker side at 49.0% and slipping, he spams a mana-cheap Q that hits twice as hard on isolated enemies and keeps casting for a few seconds after he dies. His edge is reach and map pressure, not early aggression, so farm relentlessly and treat every low-HP enemy anywhere as yours.

#53 of 82 jungle this patch · 1.2k games

Win rate49.0%−1.1Games1.2kPick rate1.5%Ban rate1.7%Last 8 patches+0.2 since 26.15Damage profilei

AP 91%AD 1%True 9%DifficultyiHighPunishes misplays

The 10-second answer standard · 49.0% WR

Sorcerer's Shoes SkillsQ›E›W Runes

Shards

ClassicModernARAM Counter

173 champions

AatroxTopB50.2%AhriMidA51.0%AkaliMidB49.6%AkshanMidC49.2%AlistarSupportS53.1%AmbessaTopC48.0%AmumuJungleB49.9%AniviaMidB50.5%AnnieMidA51.8%ApheliosAD CarryB49.4%AsheAD CarryB49.4%Aurelion SolMidA52.0%AuroraMidA51.3%AzirMidD47.7%BardSupportC48.9%Bel'VethJungleA52.4%BlitzcrankSupportS52.3%BrandSupportC48.8%BraumSupportA51.1%BriarJungleB50.4%CaitlynAD CarryC48.0%CamilleTopA51.4%CassiopeiaMidC49.2%Cho'GathJungleA51.4%CorkiAD CarryB50.8%DariusTopB50.4%DianaJungleB49.7%Dr. MundoTopA51.5%DravenAD CarryA51.3%EkkoMidA52.2%EliseJungleC49.1%EvelynnJungleA51.3%EzrealAD CarryD46.5%FiddlesticksJungleB50.1%FioraTopA52.0%FizzMidB50.2%GalioMidB50.4%GangplankTopA52.0%GarenTopB50.6%GnarTopB49.4%GragasTopB49.5%GravesJungleB49.7%GwenTopB49.6%HecarimJungleA51.5%HeimerdingerTopA51.7%HweiMidA51.6%IllaoiTopC48.8%IreliaTopB49.9%IvernJungleB50.5%JannaSupportA51.1%Jarvan IVJungleC49.2%JaxTopB50.2%JayceTopD47.2%JhinAD CarryB50.3%JinxAD CarryA51.5%K'SanteTopD47.0%Kai'SaAD CarryB49.9%KalistaAD CarryC49.2%KarmaSupportC48.0%KarthusJungleC49.0%KassadinMidA52.1%KatarinaMidS52.4%KayleTopA51.5%KaynJungleB50.3%KennenTopA52.1%Kha'ZixJungleB49.7%KindredJungleA51.5%KledTopA51.7%Kog'MawAD CarryB50.8%LeBlancMidS52.5%Lee SinJungleC48.2%LeonaSupportA51.5%LilliaJungleA51.8%LissandraMidB50.0%LockeMidC48.8%LucianAD CarryC48.9%LuluSupportB49.4%LuxSupportC48.9%MalphiteTopA51.2%MalzaharMidB50.1%MaokaiSupportA51.9%Master YiJungleB49.4%MelMidD47.5%MilioSupportC49.1%Miss FortuneAD CarryB49.5%MordekaiserTopA51.3%MorganaSupportA51.5%NaafiriJungleB50.4%NamiSupportB50.0%NasusTopC49.1%NautilusSupportB50.2%NeekoSupportC48.2%NidaleeJungleA51.5%NilahAD CarryS54.1%NocturneJungleB50.1%Nunu & WillumpJungleA51.0%OlafTopB49.9%OriannaMidD47.2%OrnnTopB50.7%PantheonTopA50.9%PoppySupportS53.5%PykeSupportB50.4%QiyanaJungleD47.2%QuinnTopD47.5%RakanSupportS52.5%RammusJungleS+55.5%Rek'SaiJungleA51.7%RellSupportA51.9%Renata GlascSupportC49.2%RenektonTopB49.5%RengarJungleC48.9%RivenTopB50.5%RumbleTopC48.6%RyzeMidD46.1%SamiraAD CarryB50.4%SejuaniJungleA51.0%SennaSupportB50.3%SeraphineSupportB49.8%SettTopS52.6%ShacoJungleB49.9%ShenTopS52.6%ShyvanaJungleS53.4%SingedTopA51.8%SionTopA51.6%SivirAD CarryB50.6%SkarnerJungleS53.1%SmolderAD CarryA51.0%SonaSupportA51.6%SorakaSupportA51.2%SwainSupportB50.4%SylasMidC48.1%SyndraMidB49.7%Tahm KenchSupportD47.7%TaliyahJungleA51.3%TalonJungleA51.2%TaricSupportA51.6%TeemoTopA50.8%ThreshSupportA50.8%TristanaAD CarryB49.6%TrundleTopD47.7%TryndamereTopB50.1%Twisted FateMidB49.9%TwitchAD CarryB49.8%UdyrJungleB50.9%UrgotTopA50.9%VarusAD CarryC48.6%VayneAD CarryA51.6%VeigarMidC48.0%Vel'KozSupportS52.5%VexMidS52.5%ViJungleB49.7%ViegoJungleC48.8%ViktorMidB49.7%VladimirMidA51.5%VolibearTopB49.7%WarwickJungleA52.0%WukongJungleB50.5%XayahAD CarryS53.0%XerathMidA52.0%Xin ZhaoJungleS52.6%YasuoMidC48.3%YoneTopC47.9%YorickTopC48.1%YunaraAD CarryC49.2%YuumiSupportC48.5%ZaahenTopB50.2%ZacJungleA51.8%ZedMidC48.8%ZeriAD CarryA51.9%ZiggsAD CarryA51.5%ZileanSupportA51.5%ZoeMidA52.3%ZyraSupportB50.4%

LoL ClassicSee how Karthus was built in the classic eraKarthus Classic Build

When Is Karthus Strongest?

This is a late-game profile, strongest with full items online, and games at this rank average around 29 minutes. Karthus wins by scaling into a late-game execute machine, so use the power window to farm safely, then start hunting cross-map kills and turning every low enemy into free damage from the fog.

Game timeline · Karthus drag or hover to scrub · space plays · ←/→ step

your power minute by minute · gold = item spikes · small = components · dashed = objectives

Camps1:30Drake / Grubs5:00Herald14:00Baron20:00Avg end28:33

Ambush zone2:48–4:18 Power spike 19:06

13:55

10:07

13:55

19:06

0:00 10:00 20:00 30:00 40:00

At 12:00

Power 59/100 · Even

Core 1/3 items

Gold ~5.8k

Phase Lvl-6 window

Next spike Sorcerer's Shoes · 13:55

Karthus Item Build

Karthus is a scaling artillery mage who farms up and then rains global damage on the entire enemy team. The build stacks ability power, mana, and haste so his blasts hit harder, his aura drains without going dry, and his ultimate can execute from anywhere on the map.

Standard loadout · Karthus The consensus path — reliable spikes, no dead time.

Starting items 500g

Scorchclaw Pup×1

Health Potion×1

Stealth Ward×1 Core path · click an item for its recipe ›› Boots

Sorcerer's Shoes93% · 49.6%

Boots7% · 41.6%

Situational items pick an opponent in the bar above — the right swaps light up

vs AD threatsPhysical threats spike with lethality — armor answers buy the mid game back.Z

Zhonya's Hourglass33153.5%

vs stacked resistsWhen resists stack, penetration beats raw stats — swap a damage slot.C

Cryptbloom3268.8%S

Stormsurge15359.5%V

Void Staff24259.1%

vision controlFights are decided a minute earlier by the team that sees first.F

Farsight Alteration14052.1%O

Oracle Lens78648.9%S

Stealth Ward23446.6%

Best Karthus Runes

Dark Harvest is the go-to, and his kit feeds it perfectly. His repeated Q casts and his damage toggle keep it working, so his output climbs the longer a fight drags on. Pair it with mana and ability haste so he can keep his E toggle running and his Q flowing. It rewards exactly the sustained AoE he already brings.

The pre-game page Dark Harvest · Domination + Sorcery · keystone + 5 runes + 3 shards

Domination Primary

Dark HarvestDamaging a low health champion inflicts adaptive damage and harvests a soul from the victim.

Cheap Shot65% · 47.1%

Grisly Mementos37% · 43.8%

Ultimate Hunter38% · 46.4%

Keystone plus three minors from Domination, two from Sorcery, then three shards — no runebook, no masteries.

Sorcery Secondary

Axiom Arcanist64% · 47.8%

Gathering Storm61% · 48.9%

Stat shards Offense

Adaptive Force+9 Adaptive Force

Flex

Adaptive Force+9 Adaptive Force

Defense

Health Scaling+10–180 Health (by level)

Shards give +18Adaptive Force+10–180 Health (by level)

Everything about Karthus improves once his damage items come together. Build toward Blackfire Torch into Shadowflame and prioritize getting there quickly. You can lose lane and still take over once the items come online. Shadowflame comes online at about the 19-minute mark, and from then his Q shreds low targets while his ult chunks the whole enemy team, so farm toward that spike above all else.

Karthus Skill Order

Wall of Pain waits until level 4 here, the first point where Karthus can slow a target rather than just chip at it. Three ranks of Lay Waste by 5 and Requiem at 6 finish the pattern.

Skill order · Karthus R at 6 / 11 / 16 — always

PriorityR

R›Q

Q›E

E›W

WMax Q first; E at level 2.

Lv 123456789101112131415161718

Q13579max 9

W414151718max 18

E28101213max 13

R61116max 16

Karthus Abilities

Defile quietly funds the whole engine, its passive handing back mana on every kill so the damage aura keeps humming. Wall of Pain does more than slow, stripping magic resist off anyone who steps through and leaving them softer for the delayed blasts to finish.

Abilities · Karthuspatch 26.22 base numbers · click an ability · all ranks shown

Death DefiedPassiveP

Lay WasteMax 1stQ

Wall of PainMax lastW

DefileMax 2ndE

RequiemUltRRank-up levels here match the skill order below.

Lay WasteMagic damageMax 1stStatLV 1rank 1LV 3rank 2LV 5rank 3LV 7rank 4LV 9MAXDamage+19 per rank+35% APlv 140lv 359lv 578lv 797lv 9116Cost+5 per ranklv 120lv 325lv 530lv 735lv 940

Karthus Base Stats

Base stats · KarthusPatch 26.22

Base statslevel 1 · +per levelAD46+3.25AS0.625+2.11%MS335Range450HP620+110HP56.5+0.55Armor21+4.7MR30+1.3MP467+31MP58+0.8

Karthus Matchups

Karthus wants to reach his items untouched, so he does well against passive lanes that let him free-farm and scale. He struggles against early aggression, dive junglers, and mobile assassins who jump on his slow, immobile body before he ever comes online.

Lane matchups · Karthus click any opponent to retune the console

Hardest lanes · click to tune

Best hunting

How to lane vs carry junglers 01Avoid early duels because damage junglers out fight you before you scale.02Track their clear with vision and counter gank using Requiem for global tempo.03Out scale them, then use Wall of Pain to peel dives off your carries. Win rate by game lengthKarthus overall · all matchupsUnder 20 min50.6%20–28 min46.4%28–35 min46.8%Over 35 min56.9%

Look out for Nocturne, Kindred, and Rammus, who can dive Karthus or blow him up before his items are online, so ward your flanks and play at range. His wall slow and post-death casting still let him trade back even when a fight looks lost. He feasts on Taliyah, Hecarim, and Rengar, where his AoE and pick-off ult find value all game, so angle fights toward them and let your damage stack up.

ExploreWhere to go next after Karthus

Keep climbing · JungleJungle Tier ListEvery jungler ranked by tierSee Jungle Tier List