Karthus

JungleBotAPrangedteamfightpokepick

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Comp identity — Jungle / Bot

Leans Siege — its strongest of the five comp axes.

Plays like — nearest pentagon

Ranked by how close their five-axis heatmap looks — role-agnostic.

Where it thrives (5-comp fit)

Siegenatural · 60%
Protectworkable · 40%
Attackworkable · 30%
Karthus forces enemies off towers and objectives with long-range poke. Enough Protect and Attack sits in the kit to fall back and peel when the game goes defensive. Death Defied passive lets him cast (including his global ult) for free while untargetable/CC-immune for 7s after 'dying'.

Kit quirks

Death Defied passive lets him cast (including his global ult) for free while untargetable/CC-immune for 7s after 'dying'
Requiem (R) is a 3s channel dealing global magic damage to all enemy champions, blockable by spell shields
Defile (E) is a toggle mana-cost AoE DoT that also restores mana on champion/monster kills

How Karthus actually performs in ranked solo queue · 71 weighted games

Solo queue strength

Bot48% WR · 33.8 games
Jungle49% WR · 27.8 games
Top50% WR · 5.5 games
Mid50% WR · 3.2 games
Support51% WR · 1.3 games

Strongest duos

Best matchups

No favored matchups recorded.

Hardest matchups

No losing matchups recorded.

Champion reference

Base stats and every ability with its per-rank values and ratios. Search all champions →

Karthus — The Deathsinger

Class: Battlemage
Resource: Mana
Range type: Ranged
Adaptive type: Magic
Positions: Jungle
Released: 2009-06-12 (June 12, 2009 Patch)
Last changed: V26.03
Price: 1,575 BE · 790 RP

Damage

Toughness

Control

Mobility

Utility

Difficulty

Base stats

Stat	Base	Per level	Level 18
Health	620	+110	2490
Health regen (per 5s)	6.5	+0.55	15.85
Mana	467	+31	994
Mana regen (per 5s)	8	+0.8	21.6
Armor	21	+4.7	100.9
Magic resist	30	+1.3	52.1
Attack damage	46	+3.25	101.25
Attack speed	0.625	+2.11%	0.849
Attack speed ratio	0.625
Attack range	450
Movement speed	335

Level 18 uses League's growth curve (base + 17 × per-level); attack speed grows as bonus % scaled by the attack speed ratio.

Advanced stats & game-mode balance

Acquisition radius: 450
Selection height: 150
Selection radius: 100
Pathing radius: 35
Attack delay offset: 0.0437
Basic attack missile speed: 1500

ARAM: damage dealt ×0.93 · damage taken ×1.05

URF: damage dealt ×0.9 · damage taken ×1

Abilities

Passive

Death Defied

Innate: Upon taking fatal damage, Karthus enters a zombie state for 7 seconds, during which he can cast his abilities at no cost. If Defile has been learned, it will remain toggled on for Death Defied's entire duration. Requiem becomes disabled after 4 seconds of the duration have elapsed.

While under this state, Karthus becomes untargetable and immune to crowd control as well as prevents all incoming damage, but is also rendered unable to move, declare basic attacks, use summoner spells, and activate items.

Targeting input: PassiveAffects: Self

Notes (31)

Death Defied's untargetability does not destroy in-flight projectiles.
Karthus cannot be executed by the Aspect of the Dragon during Death Defied.
At the start of Death Defied, Karthus is set to 1 health.
Karthus can still regenerate his health over the duration, but he will always die at the end of it.
After Death Defied ends, the corpse of Karthus will retain unit collision despite being dead on the ground.
Karthus' mana bar drains over the duration of Death Defied as an indicator of his time remaining in this state.
Zombie states trigger upon taking lethal damage.
Raw damage effects will not prevent zombie states from triggering.
All resurrection effects will take precedence over effects that reanimate as a zombie.
A champion that enters a zombie state will start their death timer upon triggering the effect.
Most buffs and debuffs will be lost upon transitioning into a zombie state.
Those that persist through death, such as Brand's Blaze, will remain.
Undisplayed marker buffs, such as those imposed by Veigar's Event Horizon and Viktor's Gravity Field to prevent being affected multiple times by the same effect, will be lost.(bug)
This does not apply when transitioning from one zombie state to another zombie state.(bug)
Units within a zombie state cannot:
Use Recall or Refillable Potion.
Activate resurrection effects.
Take Dark Passage, Catapult, or gates.
Initate the Rift Herald Rodeo.
Pick up the Eye of the Herald.
Be targeted by the following:
Bailout
Chronoshift
Umbral Trespass.
Be affected by the following:
Curse of the Black Mist
Fear Beyond Death's chain missile
Test of Spirit's initial missile
Lamb's Respite
Realm of Death
Fountain health restore

Map-specific differences (1)

Duration changed to 5 seconds.

Lay Waste

Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 ManaCooldown: 1Cast time: 0.25Target range: 875Effect radius: 160

Active: Karthus conjures a blast at the target location that detonates after 0.528 seconds − 0.759 seconds, granting sight of the area and dealing magic damage to all enemies within, doubled when only one target is struck.

Magic Damage: 40 / 59 / 78 / 97 / 116 (+ 35% AP)
Isolated Enhanced Damage: 80 / 118 / 156 / 194 / 232 (+ 70% AP)

Targeting input: LocationTarget out-of-range override: Walk in range of the target location to cast, During Death Defied, target at maximum range (clamped)Affects: EnemiesDamage type: See NotesDamage sub-types: MagicSpell shield: Blocked

Notes (5)

This ability always employs Quick cast.
The delay between the cast and the detonation is inconsistent, but always matches up with the VFX.(bug)
Defile's ticks beyond the first has a similar issue.
Applies spell damage if it hits a single target and area damage if it hits multiple targets.
Lay Waste also plays a different sound effect when it only hits one target.

Map-specific differences (1)

AP ratio changed to 35% AP.

Wall of Pain

Cost: 70 ManaCooldown: 15Cast time: 0.25Target range: 1000

Active: Karthus erects a wall of pain at the target location perpendicular to his facing that lasts 5 seconds, granting sight around its pillars and center.

Wall Length: 800 / 900 / 1000 / 1100 / 1200 units

Enemies that touch the wall are inflicted with 25% magic resistance reduction and become slowed for 5 seconds, decaying over the duration. This can affect enemies only once per cast.

Slow: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80%
Reduced Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%

Targeting input: LocationTarget out-of-range override: Walk in range of the target location to castAffects: EnemiesSpell shield: Not Blocked

Notes (1)

No additional details.

Map-specific differences (1)

Cooldown changed to 12 seconds.

Defile

Cost: 30 / 42 / 54 / 66 / 78 Mana per secondCast time: noneStatic cooldown: 0.5Effect radius: 550

Passive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy.

Mana Restored: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50

Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every 0.25 seconds to all nearby enemies.

Magic Damage Per Tick: 7.5 / 12.5 / 17.5 / 22.5 / 27.5 (+ 5% AP)
Damage Per Second: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+ 20% AP)

Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost.

Defile cannot be toggled off during Death Defied.

Targeting input: AutoAffects: Self, EnemiesDamage type: AOE DOT damageDamage sub-types: MagicSpell shield: Not Blocked

Notes (4)

Toggled abilities do not count as ability activations for the purposes of on-cast effects such as Spellblade and triggering Force Pulse's passive.
Defile will restore mana if Karthus destroys an enemy structure.
Defile re-calculates its damage with each tick based on changes in Karthus's ability power or an increase in the rank of Defile without the need to toggle it off and on again.
Defile will toggle off automatically if Karthus enters resurrection.

Requiem

Cost: 100 ManaCooldown: 200 / 180 / 160Cast time: 0.25Effect radius: Global

Active: Karthus channels for 3 seconds, then deals magic damage to all targetable enemy champions upon completion.

Magic Damage: 200 / 350 / 500 (+ 70% AP)

Targeting input: AutoInvalid target override: The ability will cast with no valid targetsAffects: EnemiesDamage type: Area damageDamage sub-types: MagicSpell shield: BlockedDisruption: Interrupted

Notes (7)

Requiem's channel is telegraphed to all enemy champions by a beam of light that descends on all targets, including if they are untargetable or even dead.
Requiem will affect clones.
The damage will apply spell effects to targets in order of being spawned. Single target spell effects (such as Luden's Echo) are thus triggered on the leftmost champion on the loading screen.
Requiem will not affect Neeko if she's disguised as a non-champion if Karthus is affected by Death Defied.(bug)
The following table refers for interactions while Karthus is channeling:
Death
Cast-inhibiting effects

Map-specific differences (3)

Base damage changed to 350 / 550 / 750.
AP ratio changed to 90% AP.
Cooldown changed to 120 / 100 / 80 seconds.

Stats and abilities from the League of Legends Wiki (CC BY-SA 3.0), built for patch 26.22.

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Where it thrives (5-comp fit)

Siegenatural · 60%

Protectworkable · 40%

Attackworkable · 30%

Karthus forces enemies off towers and objectives with long-range poke. Enough Protect and Attack sits in the kit to fall back and peel when the game goes defensive. Death Defied passive lets him cast (including his global ult) for free while untargetable/CC-immune for 7s after 'dying'.

Kit quirks

Death Defied passive lets him cast (including his global ult) for free while untargetable/CC-immune for 7s after 'dying'

Requiem (R) is a 3s channel dealing global magic damage to all enemy champions, blockable by spell shields

Defile (E) is a toggle mana-cost AoE DoT that also restores mana on champion/monster kills

Champion reference

Base stats and every ability with its per-rank values and ratios. Search all champions →

Karthus — The Deathsinger

Class: Battlemage
Resource: Mana
Range type: Ranged
Adaptive type: Magic
Positions: Jungle
Released: 2009-06-12 (June 12, 2009 Patch)
Last changed: V26.03
Price: 1,575 BE · 790 RP

Damage

Toughness

Control

Mobility

Utility

Difficulty

Base stats

Stat	Base	Per level	Level 18
Health	620	+110	2490
Health regen (per 5s)	6.5	+0.55	15.85
Mana	467	+31	994
Mana regen (per 5s)	8	+0.8	21.6
Armor	21	+4.7	100.9
Magic resist	30	+1.3	52.1
Attack damage	46	+3.25	101.25
Attack speed	0.625	+2.11%	0.849
Attack speed ratio	0.625
Attack range	450
Movement speed	335

Level 18 uses League's growth curve (base + 17 × per-level); attack speed grows as bonus % scaled by the attack speed ratio.

Advanced stats & game-mode balance

Acquisition radius: 450
Selection height: 150
Selection radius: 100
Pathing radius: 35
Attack delay offset: 0.0437
Basic attack missile speed: 1500

ARAM: damage dealt ×0.93 · damage taken ×1.05

URF: damage dealt ×0.9 · damage taken ×1

Abilities

Passive

Death Defied

Targeting input: PassiveAffects: Self

Notes (31)

Death Defied's untargetability does not destroy in-flight projectiles.
Karthus cannot be executed by the Aspect of the Dragon during Death Defied.
At the start of Death Defied, Karthus is set to 1 health.
Karthus can still regenerate his health over the duration, but he will always die at the end of it.
After Death Defied ends, the corpse of Karthus will retain unit collision despite being dead on the ground.
Karthus' mana bar drains over the duration of Death Defied as an indicator of his time remaining in this state.
Zombie states trigger upon taking lethal damage.
Raw damage effects will not prevent zombie states from triggering.
All resurrection effects will take precedence over effects that reanimate as a zombie.
A champion that enters a zombie state will start their death timer upon triggering the effect.
Most buffs and debuffs will be lost upon transitioning into a zombie state.
Those that persist through death, such as Brand's Blaze, will remain.
Undisplayed marker buffs, such as those imposed by Veigar's Event Horizon and Viktor's Gravity Field to prevent being affected multiple times by the same effect, will be lost.(bug)
This does not apply when transitioning from one zombie state to another zombie state.(bug)
Units within a zombie state cannot:
Use Recall or Refillable Potion.
Activate resurrection effects.
Take Dark Passage, Catapult, or gates.
Initate the Rift Herald Rodeo.
Pick up the Eye of the Herald.
Be targeted by the following:
Bailout
Chronoshift
Umbral Trespass.
Be affected by the following:
Curse of the Black Mist
Fear Beyond Death's chain missile
Test of Spirit's initial missile
Lamb's Respite
Realm of Death
Fountain health restore

Map-specific differences (1)

Duration changed to 5 seconds.

Lay Waste

Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 ManaCooldown: 1Cast time: 0.25Target range: 875Effect radius: 160

Magic Damage: 40 / 59 / 78 / 97 / 116 (+ 35% AP)
Isolated Enhanced Damage: 80 / 118 / 156 / 194 / 232 (+ 70% AP)

Notes (5)

This ability always employs Quick cast.
The delay between the cast and the detonation is inconsistent, but always matches up with the VFX.(bug)
Defile's ticks beyond the first has a similar issue.
Applies spell damage if it hits a single target and area damage if it hits multiple targets.
Lay Waste also plays a different sound effect when it only hits one target.

Map-specific differences (1)

AP ratio changed to 35% AP.

Wall of Pain

Cost: 70 ManaCooldown: 15Cast time: 0.25Target range: 1000

Active: Karthus erects a wall of pain at the target location perpendicular to his facing that lasts 5 seconds, granting sight around its pillars and center.

Wall Length: 800 / 900 / 1000 / 1100 / 1200 units

Enemies that touch the wall are inflicted with 25% magic resistance reduction and become slowed for 5 seconds, decaying over the duration. This can affect enemies only once per cast.

Slow: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80%
Reduced Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%

Targeting input: LocationTarget out-of-range override: Walk in range of the target location to castAffects: EnemiesSpell shield: Not Blocked

Notes (1)

No additional details.

Map-specific differences (1)

Cooldown changed to 12 seconds.

Defile

Cost: 30 / 42 / 54 / 66 / 78 Mana per secondCast time: noneStatic cooldown: 0.5Effect radius: 550

Passive: Karthus restores mana whenever he kills an enemy.

Mana Restored: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50

Toggle: Karthus surrounds himself in a necrotic aura that deals magic damage every 0.25 seconds to all nearby enemies.

Magic Damage Per Tick: 7.5 / 12.5 / 17.5 / 22.5 / 27.5 (+ 5% AP)
Damage Per Second: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+ 20% AP)

Toggling Defile off triggers a final tick of damage. Defile is toggled off automatically if Karthus becomes unable to pay its mana cost.

Defile cannot be toggled off during Death Defied.

Targeting input: AutoAffects: Self, EnemiesDamage type: AOE DOT damageDamage sub-types: MagicSpell shield: Not Blocked

Notes (4)

Toggled abilities do not count as ability activations for the purposes of on-cast effects such as Spellblade and triggering Force Pulse's passive.
Defile will restore mana if Karthus destroys an enemy structure.
Defile re-calculates its damage with each tick based on changes in Karthus's ability power or an increase in the rank of Defile without the need to toggle it off and on again.
Defile will toggle off automatically if Karthus enters resurrection.

Requiem

Cost: 100 ManaCooldown: 200 / 180 / 160Cast time: 0.25Effect radius: Global

Active: Karthus channels for 3 seconds, then deals magic damage to all targetable enemy champions upon completion.

Magic Damage: 200 / 350 / 500 (+ 70% AP)

Targeting input: AutoInvalid target override: The ability will cast with no valid targetsAffects: EnemiesDamage type: Area damageDamage sub-types: MagicSpell shield: BlockedDisruption: Interrupted

Notes (7)

Requiem's channel is telegraphed to all enemy champions by a beam of light that descends on all targets, including if they are untargetable or even dead.
Requiem will affect clones.
The damage will apply spell effects to targets in order of being spawned. Single target spell effects (such as Luden's Echo) are thus triggered on the leftmost champion on the loading screen.
Requiem will not affect Neeko if she's disguised as a non-champion if Karthus is affected by Death Defied.(bug)
The following table refers for interactions while Karthus is channeling:
Death
Cast-inhibiting effects

Map-specific differences (3)

Base damage changed to 350 / 550 / 750.
AP ratio changed to 90% AP.
Cooldown changed to 120 / 100 / 80 seconds.

Stats and abilities from the League of Legends Wiki (CC BY-SA 3.0), built for patch 26.22.