The League of Legends champion Karma is a bit too diverse for Riot Games. She was often utilized in the top lane as a second support for a hyper-carry. The fact that she was able to stand up to any lane bullies seems to have rubbed Riot Games the wrong way, and they've decided to shift her focus solely onto the support role with a mini rework.
In low elo, Karma is basically only used as a support champion. But looking at pro play and high elo, we see a whole different story. She is a strong flex pick who can be played in the top and mid lane. The extreme difference in positioning for Karma can be seen in her pick rate. While in solo queue, she has a pick rate of 91% as a support, in pro play, she has a 32% pick rate as a mid laner, and a 22% pick rate in the top lane. Hence, why Riot is going to put her under the knife and make some changes for Karma in a mini rework in LoL Patch 11.16.
How to make me actually play PC league of legends again: Soft Rework Karma pic.twitter.com/rj7aLg1wof
— xenovx (@xenovx1) July 28, 2021
Is this the End of Top Lane Karma?
The newest changes, which are already on the PBE server, will impact her early game by taking away power from her laning phase. We're assuming these Karma changes are coming in LoL Patch 11.16 since the PBE is already running the changes with the next patch.
- Passive -Gathering Fire will lower the cooldown of her Mantra if her ability hits opposing champions. The cooldown reduction is getting increased. It starts with 5 seconds per hit ability and scales up to 7 seconds at level 18.
- Her Q - Inner Flame will deal less damage and has a longer cooldown. But the bonus damage thanks to her ultimate will be increased. The mana cost is also being lowered, so you can still have her be a DPS-mage in the late game if you build some AP.
- Her E - Inspire shield – which has been abused in the top lane to evade ganks – will have its movement speed lowered. Instead, the shield will be stronger, which is just going to improve support Karma.
Mid lane Karma will still be a viable pick since she isn't as reliant on the movement speed in the shield if she gets ganked. Sadly, we'll have to say goodbye to top lane Karma, since the burst of speed was what made her so strong. We do believe though that she will shoot up in priority for any support players.
- Check out this guide on how to play the newest champion – Akshan!
When Will the Karma Mini Rework Go Live?
These changes aren't confirmed to be coming in LoL Patch 11.16, and once the Karma mini rework goes live, a few changes could still be made later on. But if Riot decides to ship these changes with the current PBE patch, then she should be playable on August 11th with LoL Patch 11.16.
If you've practiced your Karma skills, then you can participate in our League of Legends 1v1 Tournament:
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