Talk:Karma/@comment-3463132-20150309171913/@comment-1905446-20150310213525

I like Karma a lot; she's my most played champion in both ranked and normals. Unfortunately, the more I play other mages, the more I realize that much of her strength comes from people not knowing what she is.

On paper, she looks like a poke mage, but she can only be categorized there as a "weaker [insert poke mage name here]". Off the top of my head, Lux, Orianna, Xerath, and Ziggs all outrange and outdamage her. The other utility poke mages in that list (Lux and Ori) have better utility in anything but a 1v1.

Once you realize she belongs in the kite mage category, she fares better, but the Ahri and Cassiopeia changes have made Karma less unique and strong there too. Since there are so few champions in that category, Karma does receive the distinction of being the best utility kite mage. RIP Zilean.

For skill order, I tend to go Q>E>Q>W and then max R>Q>E>W. For most champions, the biggest spike in a skill comes at the second rank, and in Karma's case, the root and shield damage nearly double between those first two ranks. The heal and AoE shield don't scale with base ability rank, so it doesn't really matter much which you increase first. E to improve your kiting, or W to increase your all-in damage.