Talk:Karthus/@comment-3360855-20130222101103/@comment-187.113.210.83-20130303185112

Karthus is not a suicide bomber and has 3 skills with huge range. Don't mindlessy dive into the enemy team to use E for 2 seconds and feed. HOWEVER, his passive means that he shouldn't be afraid to die either (if the situation calls for it, of course).

Imagine Karthus had no passive, and try to come up with a gameplay for that. For example:

Skirt outside the battle spaming Q, initiate/disable with W. Kite enemies who jump on you with W and your E active. IF the enemy team is AoE stunned or already weakened, then you dash into the fray with E, but be careful with your positioning. After the teamfight, use R to kill weakened enemies.

Understanding how to play without dying allows you to properly use his passive to full effect, because sometimes sacrificing yourself is necessary. But remember to not focus ONLY on it.

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As for what you should build on Karthus:

Max R>Q>E>W, with W on level 4. Q is your main poke/farm tool/source of damage and thus maximized early. E is your pushing tool/unsafe source of damage/mana drain, and not as reliable as Q (through is stronger) maxed second. W is utility, and can be maxed last.

You need one source of mana (RoA / Tear), lots of AP (Rabadon, Zhonya) and some tankiness (Rylai, Zhonya, Abyssal, Frozen Heart). Mana is required to sustain his costs, AP for having any presence and tankiness to be able to use E well.

To have the necessary gold for those items, farm with Q (it has huge range and deals double damage if it only hits one unit, not mentioning that E's passive will refund the mana cost). To poke with Q, predict when the opponent is coming to last hit and land it where he will be. Remember that the AoE in Q is actually huge, abuse it. In laning phase, keep yourself safe and focus on farming, you are weak early game. "Gank" mainly with ult.