Karthus Jungle Guide - Haunting your enemies!

This is your quick and dirty guide to mastering Karthus Jungle in patch 13.15 - because who said death can't be fun?!

Summoner Spells:

- Flash: This is a standard summoner spell for most champions, providing an instant gap closer or escape mechanism.

- Smite: As a jungler, Smite is essential for securing objectives and enhancing your jungle clear speed.

Runes:

- Primary Path: Inspiration

  - Keystone: First Strike

  - Magical Footwear

  - Future's Market

  - Cosmic Insight

- Secondary Path: Domination

  - Eyeball Collection

  - Ultimate Hunter

Stat Shards:

- 2x Adaptive Force (9 AP each)

- 1x Scaling Health (15-140 HP, levels 1-18)

Starting Items:

- Scorch Claw

- Health Potion

- Stealth Ward

Recommended Full Build Items:

- Sorcerer's Shoes

- Liandry's Anguish

- Void Staff

- Rabadon's Deathcap

- Shadowflame

- Morellonomicon

Ability Skill Order:

- Q (Lay Waste): Max this first, taking points at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.

- E (Defile): Max this second, taking points at levels 2, 8, 10, 12, 13.

- W (Wall of Pain): Max this last, taking points at levels 4, 14, 15, 17, 18.

- R (Requiem): As with most champions, take points in your ultimate whenever possible, at levels 6, 11, 16.

General Playstyle:

Karthus is a power farming jungler with a fast clear speed. Prioritize farming over ganking, as Karthus can become very strong if you farm well. He can also solo dragons and Herald very easily. Karthus has tons of map pressure when his Ultimate R is up. As long as he keeps an eye on the minimap at all times, he can use it to pick up kills easily.

Early Game:

There are three ways to clear on Karthus:

1. Full clear blue start into recall: Start blue, do a full clear then recall and buy amp tomb with dark seal (this only works with future's market). Once you full clear recall you should have enough time to go back to the side you started and fight the scuttle crab with item advantage and win the 1v1.

2. Full clear into crab / ganking: Full clear into ganking or getting crab and then recalling will give you enough gold for lost chapter if you have future's market and don't purchase a pot. Once you have lost chapter you can play super aggressive and look to fight.

3. Late invade and splitting map: When you late invade and force start the enemy Jungler's buff, this helps Karthus secure a full clear without getting invaded or punished.

Mid Game:

Continue to farm your jungle and look for opportunities to use your ultimate to assist your team in fights across the map. You can also look to secure dragons and Herald.

Late Game:

In the late game, Karthus becomes a significant threat due to his high damage output. Position yourself carefully in team fights, using your Q and E to deal damage and your W to slow enemies. Use your ultimate to finish off low-health enemies.

Team Fights:

In team fights, Karthus should stay in the backline, using his Q and E to deal damage. If you die, you can continue to use your Q and R briefly while you are dead thanks to your passive.

Dragon and Baron Objective:

Karthus can solo dragons and Herald very easily. Use your E to deal consistent damage and your Q for burst. Use Smite to secure the objective.

Matchups:

Karthus is strong against champions that can't interrupt his Defile or escape from his Wall of Pain. He struggles against champions that can burst him down or interrupt his Defile.

In the world of Karthus, death isn't the end - it's just the beginning of your opponent's nightmares. So, go forth, conquer, and use this Karthus jungle guide for the latest patch, your book of wisdom for your haunting ground.