League of Legends S12: Karma Support Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Karma in the botlane in League of Legends.

Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.

That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.

Runes

Core Items

Shurelya's Battlesong

2500 Gold

Chemtech Putrifier

2300 Gold

Build

Shurelya's Battlesong grants Karma a lot of mobility and ability haste, combining perfectly with her passive for more frequent shields and heals. 

Chemtech Putrifier is great for allowing teammates to apply Grievous Wounds to enemies, which could turn the tide of a trade or teamfight.

Other good items include Redemption, Staff of Flowing Water, Ardent Censer, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Mikael's Blessing. All in all, Karma has pretty flexible build path.

Starting Item & Boots

Health Potion

50 Gold

Spellthief's Edge

400 Gold

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

950 Gold

Skill Order

While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Karma skill priority is:

R > Q > E > W

Summoner Spells

These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Karma in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.

Gameplay

While Karma is primarily a utility support, she has excellent poke potential with her empowered Q. You can both zone your opponents and keep your ADC topped up, but you'll need to have great reactions! 

• Level 1 - Take Q - Inner Flame, so you can begin to poke and harass your opponent. 
• Level 2 - Take E - Inspire, so you can shield your ADC in trades.
• First Back - Start working towards Shurelya's Battlesong with a Bandleglass Mirror, for the mana sustain.

Tips & Tricks

• When empowered by Karma's R, Inspire will restore health as well as shield. It's often a good idea to keep R off cooldown for this reason.
• You'll need plenty of mana regeneration for Karma to be effective, so plan your items with this in mind. 
• Feel free to use Inspire offensively, given it also grants a move speed buff. 
• Mantra + Inner Flame is a key combo early on to zone and harass your lane opponents - it also deals significant damage for a support! 
• With quick reactions, Karma can easily shut down a gank or dive by empowering her ally with an enhanced shield. In addition, you can use an empowered Inner Flame to slow down an enemy pursuit.