Talk:Karma/@comment-24971427-20190108031518/@comment-26808509-20190116091652

"The purpose of an ultimate isn't to be the core part to making someone's kit functional.

It's to add-on to it. They've taken the wrong direction to her ultimate and kit and just makes her suck and lacking in general."

I disagree. The ultimate of a champion is supposed to be a defining feature, something that instantly pops into mind when you think about the champ (Ori: Shockwave, Ekko: Chronobreak, Tryndamere: Undying Rage). It's the highlight of the kit. And that can mean different things for different kinds of design.

Some ultimates, as you said, 'only' add to the kit and are a powerfull move that just synergizes with the kit, while the kit can function without it. Examples are Lux' Final Spark, Sona's Crescendo, Veigars Permiodical Burst. Their kits work on themselfes really easily, the ultimate is only the strongest spell in their respective kits.

Then there are some ultimates wich go hand in hand with the kit, being somewhat reliant on the rest of the kit and at the same time leaving a kit that is too weak to function without it. Examples of that would be Oriannas Shockwave, Syndras Unleashed Power, Kassadins Riftwalk.

And then there are the ultimates that are a core part of the kit. They either enhance the rest of the kit, like Mantra does or like Heimerdingers Upgrade, or they are part of a shapeshifter design, like Nidalees, Jayces and Elises ultimates.

In any of these categories the ultimate feels powerfull. Feels like a lot of power that you unleash with the R button. But since the last category, which Mantra belongs to, doesn't really do anything on its own and "only" enhances the rest of the kit, the gain in power must be noticable. So it actually feels like an ultimate ability. They can't nerf Mantras bonuses and buff her base kit in return, because this feeling of power would disappear. And that would make the whole "enhance your spells" concept of her ultimate redundant.

However, this kind of ultimate is a major part of Karmas identity. It's one of the few parts left from her previous iteration (as she has been reworked before). Riot doesn't want to remove this ultimate and I'm sure that a lot of Karmas fanbase doesn't either. It would be a real pain to design a new, exciting ultimate for her that delivers the same fantasy. Right now you can chose what you want: sustain + extra CC, an AoE shield with teamwide speed buff or an AoE NUKE with strong slow and zoning capabilites. It's adaptive to the situation. Removing the base spell enhancing ultimate for a "real" ultimate would also result in less versatility AND it would be impossible to please everyone of the Karma fanbase (as some would maybe want a damage+CC ultimate, some a more defensive focused ultimate ect.).