League of Legends S12: Karthus Jungle Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Karthus in the jungle 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

Liandry's Anguish

3200 Gold

Zhonya's Hourglass

2600 Gold

Build

Liandry's Anguish is a great item on Karthus, adding a burn to any damage he deals. This amounts to a lot of pain over time, particularly against beefier targets.

Zhonya's Hourglass helps with survivability, especially when he's exposed, with Shadowflame another core item.

Other good items include Morellonomicon, Void Staff, and Rabadon's Deathcap.

Starting Item & Boots

Refillable Potion

150 Gold

Hailblade

350 Gold

Sorcerer's Shoes

1100 Gold

Skill Order

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

R > Q > E > W

Summoner Spells

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

Gameplay

Karthus jungle is all about playing super passively, farming creeps as fast as you can, and spamming your ult. Be wary of jungle invades, and when setting up to gank using your Wall of Pain, make sure you have plenty of vision. Karthus isn't the quickest of champs, which is why you need to play it safe. 

• Level 1 - Take Q - Lay Waste, a low-cost ability that deals big damage early on. Spam it to farm jungle camps.
• Level 2 - Take E - Defile, and toggle it on and off to deal the splash damage to jungle monsters and last hit to restore mana.
• First Back - Pick up a Lost Chapter to help with the mana management.

Tips & Tricks

• Both Lay Waste and Wall of Pain grant vision, so use them to check bushes when your wards are on cooldown.
• Remember that Defile restores mana if you kill an enemy unit or break a turret. It's expensive to keep on all the time, at least in the early game, but toggling it on and off to last hit works well.
• Wall of Pain also reduces magic resist of enemies passing through it, which can aid allies in a teamfight.
• If you find yourself killed, make sure you channel your ultimate before you fully die. Generally speaking, you'll have enough time to use three Lay Wastes then Requiem.