View build
Community rank
#–
of 63 champions
Where players rank Karthus on the community tier list. One vote per account.
– net score
Classic loadouts
Builds for Karthus
View build
Abilities
P
Death Defied
When Karthus dies he can use his Abilities for free for 7 seconds.
Q
Lay Waste
Creates a delayed blast that deals 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 magic damage to each nearby enemy, this deals double damage if it hits only a single unit. (+30% AP)
40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120+30% AP
W
Wall of Pain
Creates a wall at target location that lasts for 5 seconds. Enemies that pass through the wall have their Magic Resist reduced by 15% and Slowed by 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% for 5 seconds (their Movement Speed gradually recovers over the duration).
E
Defile
Toggle Off: When Karthus kills a unit, he restores 20 / 27 / 34 / 41 / 48 Mana. Toggle On: Deal 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 magic damage to nearby enemies each second. (+20% AP)
30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110+20% AP
R
Requiem
Ultimate
After channeling for 3 seconds, Karthus deals 250 / 400 / 550 magic damage to all enemy champions. (+60% AP)
250 / 400 / 550+60% AP
How Karthus plays
Editorial Reading of the kit above, not a sourced claim - the numbers inside it were checked against the client before publishing.
Karthus barely needs to be alive to be dangerous, and that's not an exaggeration. Death Defied lets him keep casting spells for several seconds after dying, which means engaging him carelessly can still end with him landing a Requiem or clearing the wave from beyond the grave. Lay Waste rewards precise poke, dealing double damage if it only catches one target instead of spreading across several. Wall of Pain is a strong zoning and chase tool, slowing and shredding magic resist on anything that passes through it. Defile is a simple toggle that chips away at anyone standing near him while refunding mana on kills, which makes him self-sufficient in a long lane. Requiem is the real reason people play around him even when he's not visible on the map: flat magic damage to every enemy champion at once, from a channel that only takes a few seconds and can be started from anywhere, including from his own fountain.
Counters & matchups
Strong against · in lane
Strong against · across the map
Weak against · in lane
Weak against · across the map
Plays well with
Defile clears forever against melee that cannot reach him; assassins beat him because Wall of Pain is not real protection.
"In lane" means both champions are played in the same role in Classic; "across the map" represents cross-lane dynamics (e.g. jungler ganks, roaming supports). All matchups evaluated strictly within the 63 Classic launch champions.
What Karthus's kit scales with
Read from Karthus's ability text.
Resource
ManaMana and mana regen apply
Range
Ranged450 units
Ability ratios
Q
Lay Waste
E
Defile
R
Requiem
Skins · 8
Catalog and art read directly from the client files (build 18848366a9cb) - exactly the skins the client lists for Karthus, including the Classic throwback skins with their era models. © Riot Games.
Modern vs Classic · 6 tracked changes
Karthus
Base Health
620
465
Health per level
110
75
Base Mana
467
331
Base Attack Damage
46
45.45
Base Armor
21
18.5
Armor per level
4.7
3.5
Classic: the Classic client's files · Today: patch 16.14.1.