Katarina Mid Build

Katarina Champion Guide

Role: Assassin

Lane: Midlane

Katarina Mid performs best with a build featuring Lich Bane, Sorcerer's Shoes, Shadowflame, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Rabadon's Deathcap. The most effective rune setup for Katarina Mid includes Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos, and Relentless Hunter in the primary tree, paired with Coup de Grace and Triumph in the secondary tree.

Katarina Champion Abilities

Voracity

Whenever an enemy champion dies that Katarina has damaged in the last 3 seconds, her ability cooldowns are reduced by 15 seconds.

If Katarina picks up a Dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies, dealing 68-240 (+70 / 80 / 90 / 100% of ability power) (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) magic damage. P

Bouncing Blade

Katarina throws a dagger, dealing 80 / 115 / 150 / 185 / 220 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to the target and 2 nearby enemies. The dagger then ricochets onto the ground behind the primary target. Q

Preparation

Katarina tosses a Dagger into the air and gains 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90% movement speed decaying over 1.25 seconds. W

Shunpo

Katarina dashes in the blink of an eye to the target ally, enemy, or Dagger. If it is an enemy, Katarina strikes for 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+25% of ability power) (+0.4 per attack damage) magic damage - otherwise she strikes the nearest enemy in range.

Picking up a Dagger will reduce this ability's cooldown by 78 / 84 / 90 / 96%. Katarina can blink to any location near the target. E

Death Lotus

Katarina becomes a flurry of blades, rapidly attacking the three nearest enemy champions with a flurry of knives. Each knife deals 25 / 37.5 / 50 (+19% of ability power) magic damage and 16% (+50% per 100% bonus attack speed) attack damage as physical damage, and applies 40% grievous wounds for 3 seconds.

Total over 2.5 seconds to each enemy: 375 / 562.5 / 750 (+285% of ability power) magic damage and 240% (+750% per 100% bonus attack speed) attack damage as physical damage. R

Katarina Summoner Spells

Flash

Flash is a location-targeted summoner spell that causes your champion to blink to the location in range of your cursor.

Ignite

Ignite is a unit-targeted summoner spell that burns an enemy champion for a few seconds, dealing periodic true damage, applying healing reduction, and revealing the target over the duration.

Katarina Runes

Katarina Items

Katarina Ability Order

Katarina Matchups Overview

Strong against

Taliyah

Kayle

Veigar

Hwei

Yone

Mel

Weak against

Corki

Irelia

Qiyana

Fizz

Jayce

Diana

Katarina Tips and Tricks

In team fights, look to engage and use your R only after enemy crowd control abilities have been used, so they cannot interrupt your combo. When trading in lane, wait for the enemy to use an important ability before jumping in. This will give you a stronger trade while reducing the damage they can deal back. If securing kills in lane is difficult, focus on roaming. Katarina excels at roaming and can easily pick up kills in the side lanes.

Katarina Best Build, Runes, and Items

Most Popular Build

Flash and Ignite are the best summoner spells for this setup. The recommended rune page includes Electrocute as the keystone, followed by Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos, and Relentless Hunter in the primary tree, with Coup de Grace and Triumph in the secondary tree. Rune shards should be Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, and Health Scaling. Lich Bane is the core first item, followed by Sorcerer's Shoes and Shadowflame. The last three items include Zhonya's Hourglass, Rabadon's Deathcap, and Void Staff. The best skill order is Q - E - W.

Alternative

Flash and Ignite remain the preferred summoner spells. This variation uses Conqueror as the keystone, alongside Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, and Coup de Grace in the primary rune tree, with Relentless Hunter and Sudden Impact in the secondary tree. Rune shards should be Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, and Health Scaling. The item build starts with Lich Bane, followed by Sorcerer's Shoes and Shadowflame. The final three items include Zhonya's Hourglass, Void Staff, and Rabadon's Deathcap. The skill priority remains Q - E - W.

Off-Meta

Flash and Ignite are still the recommended summoner spells. Conqueror is the chosen keystone, followed by Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, and Coup de Grace in the primary tree, with Relentless Hunter and Sudden Impact in the secondary tree. Rune shards should be Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, and Health Scaling. The item path consists of Blade of the Ruined King, Mercury's Treads, and Kraken Slayer as the core components. The last three items include Terminus, Jak'Sho, The Protean, and Titanic Hydra. The skill order remains Q - E - W.

Situational Katarina Runes and Items

The optimal runes and items depend on matchups, team compositions, and overall game state. Adjustments may be needed based on the enemy team’s damage types and threats. If facing heavy physical damage, taking Armor rune shards can help mitigate early aggression, while Magic Resist is a better choice against high magic damage opponents.