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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Karma Support Build, Runes and Counters · Patch 26.20

the Enlightened One

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (5,709 games).

Karma, the Enlightened One, can empower any spell with Mantra from level 1, and a Mantra-empowered Focused Resolve is the only part of her kit that heals — and it heals only her. Most counted Master+ Karmas were supports split between Summon Aery and Arcane Comet. Leona, Blitzcrank and Janna beat her most often in lane.

MageSupport

Patch 26.18 · Support · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 5,709 games · Preview sample

Role snapshot (Support)

CTier
Win Rate
48.6%
Pick Rate
8.7%
Ban Rate
3.0%

5,709

Games

Very High

Confidence

Most common path

195 games

54.4%Win Rate

Start
FlashHeal

Other first item

36 games

58.3%Win Rate

Start
FlashExhaust

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 14.8% of games·47.5% win rate over 845 games.

Primary

Sorcery

Summon Aery

Your attacks and abilities send Aery to a target, damaging enemies or shielding allies.

Manaflow Band

Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana. After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.

Transcendence

Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:Level 5: +5 Ability Haste Level 8: +5 Ability Haste Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.

Gathering Storm

Gain increasing amounts of AD or AP, adaptive over the course of the game.

Secondary

Resolve

Font of Life

Impairing the movement of an enemy champion heals nearby allied champions.

Revitalize

Gain 5% Heal and Shield Power. Heals and shields you cast or receive are 10% stronger on targets below 40% health.

Shards

  • Adaptive Force
  • Adaptive Force
  • Health

Other keystones taken

  • Arcane Comet43.1% taken · 47.9% win2,462 games
  • Guardian1.0% taken · 43.6% win55 games
  • Deathfire Touch0.3% taken · 35.3% win17 games

Tree pairs

  • Sorcery + Resolve46.6% taken · 49.0% win2,659 games
  • Sorcery + Inspiration43.5% taken · 49.0% win2,483 games
  • Sorcery + Domination6.7% taken · 46.6% win382 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Karma's most common path.

Q

Inner Flame

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

Cooldown 9/8/7/6/5s · 40/50/60/70/80 Mana
W

Focused Resolve

Karma creates a tether between herself and a targeted enemy, dealing damage and revealing them.

Cooldown 12s · 50/55/60/65/70 Mana
E

Inspire

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

Cooldown 10/9.5/9/8.5/8s · 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
R

Mantra

Karma empowers her next ability to do an additional effect.

Cooldown 40/38/36/34s · No cost

Max Order

QEW

Max Q first, then E, then W. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

  • Q
  • W
  • E
  • R
Ability123456789101112131415161718
QInner FlameQQQQQ
WFocused ResolveWWWWW
EInspireEEEEE
RMantraRRR

Matchup map (Support)

How Karma performs against enemy support laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Karma's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18
Mythic / CoreFirst major item
Core 2Second item
Core 3Third item
BootsBoot slot
SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

KarmaSupport average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

CS

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Karma

  • Dodge the primary — its rotation is one skillshot; sidestep it and the rest is chip

  • Track the roam — it is strongest where the enemy jungler already is

  • Punish the cooldown — Karma is exposed while its rotation is down

  • Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one

  • Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 5/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

Ability details

  • P

    Gathering Fire

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

    Passive — never cast

  • Q

    Inner 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.

    Cost 40/50/60/70/80 ManaCooldown 9/8/7/6/5sRange 950

  • W

    Focused 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.

    Cost 50/55/60/65/70 ManaCooldown 12sRange 675

  • E

    Inspire

    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.

    Cost 60/65/70/75/80 ManaCooldown 10/9.5/9/8.5/8sRange 800

  • R

    Mantra

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

    No costCooldown 40/38/36/34sRange 1100

Karma balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Karma in 3 patches. The latest is patch 26.8, published 2026-04-14.

  1. Patch 26.82026-04-14

    Base Stats

    • Base AD51to49
    • AD Growth3.3to3.0

    EInspire

    • Mana Cost50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70to60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
    Why, in Riot's words

    Last patch we made some changes to Karma to reduce how generically powerful she was by reducing her midgame shield strength. Unfortunately those weren’t as effective as we had intended so we’re taking another swing at Karma by directly targeting her E power and reducing her base stats a tad so she is more reliant on skillful and intentional ability usage.

  2. Patch 26.72026-03-31

    RMantra

    • Empowered E - Defiance Bonus Primary / Secondary Target Shield 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 (+45% AP)to45 / 85 / 125 / 165 (+45% AP)
    Why, in Riot's words

    Karma has been a force to be reckoned with in high-skill support play for some time now. We think Karma's strong early game is healthy, but we're tuning down her midgame shields to be less inspiring, as it's the only ability actually worth empowering and her enchanter builds far outperform her mage ones. This change should bring her Mantra options closer to equilibrium!

  3. Patch 25.062025-03-18

    QInner Flame

    • Damage70 / 120 / 170 / 220 / 270 (+ 70% AP)to60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+ 70% AP)
    Why, in Riot's words

    Karma has quickly risen the ranks to become arguably the strongest mage-enchanter support in the game. We're very happy that she's returned from the depths of non-viability, but she needs to perform a bit worse to give other supports a fighting chance. These nerfs will affect her most common Q-max build by weakening her early laning phase, while also nerfing her sleeper-OP E-max build by being a more potent nerf at lower ranks.

Karma skins (16)

Riot's data lists 16 looks for Karma with their own art, the base skin included and 60 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateB
Win Rate
50.4%
▲ 1.2%
Pick Rate
5.7%
▲ 2.6%
Ban Rate
3.8%
▲ 2.1%
Damage dealt
104.1%
Damage taken
101.4%
Healing
102.3%
Shielding
96.8%
Ability Haste
+22

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

  1. 26.1947.6% over 1,524 games-0.7
  2. 26.1849.0% over 3,172 games0.0
  3. 26.1749.0% over 982 games · small sample—

Karma's base stats against all 173 champions

  • Karma's base attack damage of 49 is the 8th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 3 others).
StatKarmaRankMedian
Base health630=61st620
Health per level109=38th104
Base armor28=98th30
Armor per level5=18th4.6
Base magic resist30=110th32
Magic resist per level1.3=93rd1.55
Base attack damage49=163rd59
Base attack speed0.625=117th0.656
Attack speed per level2.3%=94th2.5%
Move speed335=74th335
Attack range525=46th175

Karma at level 1 and level 18

  • Karma reaches 2483 health at level 18 — 630 at level 1 plus 17 × 109, the 40th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 1.
  • Karma reaches 1054 mana at level 18 — 374 at level 1 plus 17 × 40, the 71st-lowest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
  • Karma reaches 113 armor at level 18 — 28 at level 1 plus 17 × 5, the 46th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 1.
  • Karma reaches 52.1 magic resist at level 18 — 30 at level 1 plus 17 × 1.3, the 34th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 43.
StatLevel 1Per levelLevel 18Rank at 18
Health630+1092483=40th of 173
Mana374+40105475th of 145
Armor28+5113=46th of 173
Magic resist30+1.352.1=97th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Karma

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.

Playing 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.

Quick answers about Karma

How does Karma do against Leona?
Karma won 43.8% of 153 counted Master+ games against Leona. Leona is one of the opponents that beat Karma.
How does Karma do against Blitzcrank?
Karma won 44.8% of 165 counted Master+ games against Blitzcrank. Blitzcrank is one of the opponents that beat Karma.
How does Karma do against Janna?
Karma won 45.5% of 220 counted Master+ games against Janna. Janna is one of the opponents that beat Karma.
How does Karma do against Thresh?
Karma won 46.3% of 324 counted Master+ games against Thresh. Thresh is one of the opponents that beat Karma.
How does Karma do against Nautilus?
Karma won 47.9% of 484 counted Master+ games against Nautilus. It is close to even.
How does Karma do against Lulu?
Karma won 48.5% of 542 counted Master+ games against Lulu. It is close to even.
What class is Karma?
Riot classes Karma as Mage and Support. This site files the champion under Support.
How hard is Karma to play?
Riot rates Karma's difficulty 5 out of 10.
What resource does Karma use?
Karma's abilities spend Mana.
What is Karma's attack range?
525 units — the 46th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 17 others).
What are Karma's abilities?
Passive — Gathering Fire, Q — Inner Flame, W — Focused Resolve, E — Inspire and R — Mantra.
How many skins does Karma have?
Riot's data lists 16 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 60 chroma variants.
How much health does Karma have at level 18?
2483 — 630 at level 1 plus 17 × 109 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Karma's ultimate cooldown?
Mantra (R): 40/38/36/34 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Karma?
Patch 26.8, published 14 April 2026 — the latest of 3 patches that change Karma in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Karma at a glance

Karma, the Enlightened One, is a Mage and Support champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 5/10 for difficulty, 1/10 for attack, 7/10 for defense and 8/10 for magic. Karma spends Mana and has 16 skins with their own art. Karma's base attack damage of 49 is the 8th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 3 others).

Attack1/10
Defense7/10
Magic8/10
Difficulty5/10

Karma's story

No mortal exemplifies the spiritual traditions of Ionia more than Karma. She is the living embodiment of an ancient soul reincarnated countless times, carrying all her accumulated memories into each new life, and blessed with power that few can comprehend. She has done her best to guide her people in recent times of crisis, though she knows that peace and harmony may come only at a considerable cost—both to her, and to the land she holds most dear.
— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

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Methodology

Data window
Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation
Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment
A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters
The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample
None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause
An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from
Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.

Karma on video

Published by League of Legends on YouTube, 29 March 2013.

13 years old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.

It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.