Guide · Support

Karma Guide

the Enlightened One

Mage

Support

Tier C Support

Karma, the Enlightened One, is a mage and support champion of medium difficulty. Across our 1003 analysed ranked games, Karma is mostly played as Support (100% of its games), with a 45.9% win rate in that role: tier C among Support champions (#34 of 39, ranked by win rate). Karma's damage is mostly magic (87%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 48.2% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 533 games) versus 41.5% in short games (under 25 min).

Averages measured over 1003 Support games played with Karma, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Karma is a mage-support whose ultimate Mantra empowers her next ability: each one gets a bonus (a cataclysm, a strengthened tether that heals her, a shield extended to nearby allies). Her damaging abilities reduce Mantra's cooldown, which lets you use it often.

Mantra harassment

R › Q › W

When: An enemy is within range.

Mantra empowers the next ability: Inner Flame also creates a cataclysm that deals damage after a short delay.

The root

R › W › Q

When: An enemy can be pinned down.

The empowered Focused Resolve heals Karma and extends the root: the tether roots the enemy if it is not broken.

Protection

R › E

When: Your team engages.

Inspire gives a shield and movement speed to the ally; with Mantra, the energy spreads and extends Inspire to nearby allied champions.

Laning phase

Inner Flame harasses and reduces Mantra's cooldown by dealing damage. Focused Resolve reveals the enemy, roots them if they do not break the tether, then deals damage again.

Common mistakes

• Using Mantra without knowing which ability to empower.
• Not using your abilities to reduce its cooldown.
• Casting Focused Resolve and letting the tether be broken too easily.

Riot's official tips for playing Karma

• Gathering Fire rewards aggressive play. Look to land abilities and basic attacks on your opponent to lower Mantra's cooldown and stay on the offensive.
• When using Focused Resolve, slow your opponents with Inner Flame or speed yourself up with Inspire if you're having trouble sticking to a target.
• Don't be too conservative with Mantra. Gathering Fire is strongest in teamfights, making it easy to recharge Mantra multiple times.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Redemption, Moonstone Renewer, and Echoes of Helia (77 games, 49.4% win rate).

Redemption+Moonstone Renewer+Echoes of Helia

77 games · 49.4%

Mikael's Blessing+Moonstone Renewer+Echoes of Helia

55 games · 60.0%

Shurelya's Battlesong+Moonstone Renewer+Echoes of Helia

27 games · 51.8%

Summoner spells

Flash + Heal47.1% · 896 games

Exhaust + Flash39.0% · 59 games

Flash + Ignite32.6% · 46 games

Most-played runes

Summon Aery + Resolve

46.8% · 506 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band75%

Transcendence94%

Gathering Storm72%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Revitalize100%

Font of Life76%

Shards

Ability haste78%

Adaptive force91%

Health88%

Arcane Comet + Inspiration

44.3% · 253 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak47%

Transcendence76%

Scorch94%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight92%

Magical Footwear56%

Shards

Adaptive force87%

Adaptive force97%

Health62%

Summon Aery + Inspiration

39.0% · 82 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak66%

Transcendence77%

Scorch78%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight92%

Magical Footwear83%

Shards

Adaptive force71%

Adaptive force84%

Health83%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Karma's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team49.4% · 269 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Moonstone Renewer 48.6%

Echoes of Helia 50.0% ▲

Mikael's Blessing 57.8% ▲

Redemption 47.0% ▼

Shurelya's Battlesong 50.0%

Malignance 55.2% ▲

The item that stands out most is Mikael's Blessing: 57.8% win rate, +9 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team46.8% · 282 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Moonstone Renewer 46.6%

Echoes of Helia 50.6% ▲

Redemption 63.3% ▲

Mikael's Blessing 46.2%

Shurelya's Battlesong 46.2%

Malignance 54.5%

The item that stands out most is Redemption: 63.3% win rate, +11 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team43.1% · 452 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Moonstone Renewer 46.3%

Echoes of Helia 42.1% ▼

Redemption 49.5%

Mikael's Blessing 43.6% ▼

Shurelya's Battlesong 47.1%

Malignance 37.9% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Karma as Support

Sona Karma: 35.7%28 games

Sona has the edge in 64% of the 28 Support duels against Karma. See the Sona guide.

Nautilus Karma: 37.0%46 games

Nautilus has the edge in 63% of the 46 Support duels against Karma. See the Nautilus guide.

Lulu Karma: 38.6%44 games

Lulu has the edge in 61% of the 44 Support duels against Karma. See the Lulu guide.

Leona Karma: 38.9%18 games

Leona has the edge in 61% of the 18 Support duels against Karma. See the Leona guide.

Bard Karma: 40.6%32 games

Bard has the edge in 59% of the 32 Support duels against Karma. See the Bard guide.

Who Karma is strong against

Milio66.7% · 21 games

Rakan57.1% · 21 games

Lux56.5% · 23 games

Thresh50.0% · 32 games

Pyke50.0% · 18 games

How to play against Karma

• Karma's passive lowers her Mantra cooldown when she hits enemy champions with abilities and basic attacks. Deny her from getting free hits on you.
• Karma's Soulflare erupts for bonus damage in the area in which it's placed. React quickly and escape the circle to avoid taking heavy damage.
• Focused Resolve is a strong disengage tool. Create distance to avoid being rooted and seek to engage afterwards.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Karma's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveGathering Fire

Karma's damaging abilities will reduce the cooldown of Mantra.

QInner Flame

Karma sends forth a ball of spirit energy that explodes and deals damage upon hitting an enemy unit.

Mantra Bonus: In addition to the explosion, Mantra increases the destructive power of her Inner Flame, creating a cataclysm which deals damage after a short delay.

WFocused Resolve

Karma creates a tether between herself and a targeted enemy, dealing damage and revealing them. If the tether is not broken, the enemy will be rooted and damaged again.

Mantra Bonus: Karma strengthens the link, healing herself and extending the root duration.

EInspire

Karma summons a protective shield that absorbs incoming damage and increases the Move Speed of the protected ally.

Mantra Bonus: Energy radiates out from her target, strengthening the initial shield and applying Inspire to nearby allied champions.

RMantra

Karma empowers her next ability to do an additional effect. Mantra is available at level 1 and does not require a skill point.

Frequently asked questions

Full Karma page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides