Talk:Karthus/@comment-3168429-20110225155751/@comment-3107063-20110225165536

I recently just bought him as well. Quite honestly I don't do much buildwise to keep him alive as it seems like he is his most dangerous when he is dead. I go purely for AP/CDred/MagPen. Then if I get taken out in a fight I hit E and keep popping Q on anyone within reach. If the fight is still raging where you died there's a good chance you are going to bring down a couple dudes with you. Or, if they break it off and run away, that's where the Ult comes in handy.

In a tough team fight Karthus is kind of weak. His Q is nice and spammable but doesn't do a ton of damage. His W is pretty good to help get away or mess with their initiation. E is good to farm or give enemy DPSers something to think about when they go toe-to-toe with you.

So what I do is maximize the damage he can do and how often he can do it. Deathfire Grasp I think is a good one as it gives an attack, CD Reduction, and AP. Boots of Lucidity are nice too. AA Staff, Void Staff, Abyssal, Rabadon's. Those can round out the package assuming the game lasts long enough to earn all that. I found that to be pretty effective considering you are cutting the wait on your Ult down to about 75 seconds or so and it adds a punch to the other abilities.

The hardest thing about him is playing him right. He doesn't match up well against anyone. It really just comes down to learning when and where to use teh abilities. Don't jump in to the fray like fiddle or ryze. Hang back and be ready to mop up when the time comes.