Karthus Runes - Best Rune Page - Patch 26.17

Overview Build Runes Abilities Counters Matchups Arena ARAM Tips

Karthus performs best with Dark Harvest as the keystone rune from the Domination tree. Karthus's optimal primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, Ultimate Hunter. Karthus's secondary rune tree is Sorcery with Axiom Arcanist, Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 45.28% win rate (-1.7% win rate difference) with a 48.8% pick rate across 212 Karthus games.

45.3%Win Rate

-1.7%WR Diff

48.8%Pick Rate

Dark Harvest

Damaging a Champion below 50% health deals adaptive damage and harvests their soul, permanently increasing Dark Harvest's damage by 11.

Dark Harvest damage: 30 (+11 damage per soul) (+0.1 bonus AD) (+0.05 AP)
Cooldown: 35s (resets to 1.0s on takedown)

Cheap Shot

Damaging champions with impaired movement or actions deals 10 - 45 bonus true damage (based on level).

Cooldown: 4s
Activates on damage occurring after the impairment.

Grisly Mementos

Collect 1 memento on champion takedowns, up to 18 total.

Gain 6 Trinket Haste for each collected. In game modes where vision Trinkets do not exist, instead gain 3 Summoner Spell Haste.

Ultimate Hunter

Your ultimate gains 6 Ability Haste, plus an additional 5 Ability Haste per Bounty Hunter stack. Bounty Hunter stacks are earned the first time you get a takedown on each enemy champion.

Axiom Arcanist

Your Ultimate has 12% increased damage, healing, and shielding.
(AoE damage is reduced to a 8% increase)

Scoring a takedown on an enemy champion reduces your Ultimate's current cooldown by 7%.

Gathering Storm

Every 10 min gain AP or AD, adaptive.

10 min: + 8 AP or 5 AD
20 min: + 24 AP or 14 AD
30 min: + 48 AP or 29 AD
40 min: + 80 AP or 48 AD
50 min: + 120 AP or 72 AD
60 min: + 168 AP or 101 AD
etc...

This alternative Karthus rune build uses Deathfire Touch as the keystone from the Sorcery tree. The primary runes are Deathfire Touch, Axiom Arcanist, Absolute Focus, Gathering Storm. Karthus's secondary rune tree is Precision with Triumph, Last Stand. This setup achieves a 56.52% win rate (+9.5% win rate difference) with a 5.3% pick rate across 23 games.

56.5%Win Rate

+9.5%WR Diff

5.3%Pick Rate

Deathfire Touch

Damaging a champion with an ability burns them for 3 - 12 based on level (+2.5% AP) (+7% bonus AD) magic damage per second. After burning for 3 seconds, the damage of the burn increases by 75% while they remain on fire.

Duration:
Single Target: 4s
Area of Effect: 2s
Damage over Time: 1s

Axiom Arcanist

Your Ultimate has 12% increased damage, healing, and shielding.
(AoE damage is reduced to a 8% increase)

Scoring a takedown on an enemy champion reduces your Ultimate's current cooldown by 7%.

Absolute Focus

While above 70% health, gain an adaptive bonus of up to 18 Attack Damage or 30 Ability Power (based on level).

Grants 1.8 Attack Damage or 3 Ability Power at level 1.

Gathering Storm

Triumph

Takedowns restore 5% of your missing health, 2.5% of your max health, and grant an additional 20 gold.

'The most dangerous game brings the greatest glory.'
—Noxian Reckoner

Last Stand

Deal 5% - 11% increased damage to champions while you are below 60% health. Max damage gained at 30% health.

These champions share at least 4 runes with Karthus's recommended rune builds. use similar keystone and secondary runes, making them good alternatives if you enjoy Karthus's playstyle or want to learn champions with familiar rune setups.Fiddlesticks, Cho'Gath

73.3%Win Rate

0.7%Pick Rate

57.8%Win Rate

44.3%Pick Rate

MetaBot Desktop

Get the Winning Edge

Real-time overlays, automatic match tracking, and exclusive tools — everything you need to climb, free on your PC.

In-game overlays
Automatic match tracking
Desktop-exclusive tools

Download for Windows More InfoFree download

🔍

Help us maintain accuracy! If you notice incorrect stats, missing data, or any issues, your feedback directly improves the quality of our data for the entire community.

Report an Issue

Karthus Runes - Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best Karthus runes in patch 26.17?

The best Karthus runes in patch 26.17 use the Domination tree with Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, and Ultimate Hunter, and the Sorcery tree with Axiom Arcanist and Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 45.3% win rate with a 48.8% pick rate.

What is the win rate for Karthus's best rune page?

Karthus's best rune page has a 45.3% win rate in patch 26.17, which is -1.7% compared to Karthus's average win rate. This rune setup has a 48.8% pick rate among Karthus players.

What keystone should I use on Karthus?

Dark Harvest from the Domination tree is the best keystone rune for Karthus in patch 26.17. This keystone synergizes well with Karthus's kit and provides a 45.3% win rate.

What is Karthus's primary rune tree?

Karthus's primary rune tree is Domination. The optimal Domination runes for Karthus are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, and Ultimate Hunter, with Dark Harvest being the keystone of choice.

What is Karthus's secondary rune tree?

Karthus's best secondary rune tree is Sorcery. The recommended Sorcery runes are Axiom Arcanist and Gathering Storm, which complement Karthus's Domination primary tree.

What are alternative rune setups for Karthus?

An alternative Karthus rune setup uses Deathfire Touch from the Sorcery tree. This alternate build may be preferred in certain matchups or playstyles. Check the alternative rune page above for full details including win rate and pick rate.

How popular are Karthus's runes?

Karthus's top rune page has a 48.8% pick rate in patch 26.17. This indicates that 48.8% of Karthus players use the Dark Harvest setup with Domination and Sorcery trees.