Karthus Runes
Best Karthus runes for LoL Patch 26.1 - Dark Harvest from the Domination tree with Sorcery secondary (66.7% WR, 0.9% pick rate). Karthus's optimal primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Sixth Sense, Ultimate Hunter. Secondary tree: Axiom Arcanist, Gathering Storm.
Death Defied
Upon dying, Karthus enters a spirit form that allows him to continue casting spells.
Lay Waste
Karthus unleashes a delayed blast at a location, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Deals increased damage to isolated enemies.
Cost:- 20/
- 25/
- 30/
- 35/
- 40
Cooldown:- 0
Range:- 875
Wall of Pain
Karthus creates a passable screen of leeching energy. Any enemy units that walk through the screen have their Move Speed and Magic Resist reduced for a period.
Cost:- 70
Cooldown:- 15
Range:- 1000
Defile
Karthus passively steals energy from his victims, gaining Mana on each kill. Alternatively, Karthus can surround himself in the souls of his prey, dealing damage to nearby enemies, but quickly draining his own Mana.
Cost:- 30/
- 42/
- 54/
- 66/
- 78
Cooldown:- 1
Range:- 550
Requiem
After channeling for 3 seconds, Karthus deals damage to all enemy champions.
Cost:- 100
Cooldown:- 200/
- 180/
- 160
Range:- 10000
- Mage
Karthus performs best with Dark Harvest as the keystone rune from the Domination tree. Karthus's optimal primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Sixth Sense, Ultimate Hunter. Karthus's secondary rune tree is Sorcery with Axiom Arcanist, Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 66.67% win rate (+15.7% win rate difference) with a 0.9% pick rate across 15 Karthus games.
Primary Tree
Domination
Dark HarvestDamaging a Champion below 50% health deals
Dark Harvest damage: 30 (+11 damage per soul) (+0.1 bonus AD) (+0.05 AP)
Cooldown: 35s (resets to 1.0s on takedown)
Cheap ShotDamaging champions with impaired movement or actions deals 10 - 45 bonus true damage (based on level).
Cooldown: 4s
Sixth SenseAutomatically sense a nearby untracked and unseen ward, tracking it for the team.
Level 11: Also reveal the ward for 10s.
This effect has a 250 second Cooldown.
Ultimate HunterYour ultimate gains
Axiom ArcanistYour 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 StormEvery 10 min gain AP or AD,
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 Dark Harvest as the keystone from the Domination tree. The primary runes are Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Grisly Mementos, Ultimate Hunter. Karthus's secondary rune tree is Precision with Presence of Mind, Last Stand. This setup achieves a 66.67% win rate (+15.7% win rate difference) with a 4.4% pick rate across 75 games.
Primary Tree
Domination
Dark HarvestDamaging a Champion below 50% health deals
Dark Harvest damage: 30 (+11 damage per soul) (+0.1 bonus AD) (+0.05 AP)
Cooldown: 35s (resets to 1.0s on takedown)
Cheap ShotDamaging champions with impaired movement or actions deals 10 - 45 bonus true damage (based on level).
Cooldown: 4s
Grisly MementosCollect 1 memento on champion
Gain 6 Trinket Haste for each collected. In game modes where vision Trinkets do not exist, instead gain 3 Summoner Spell Haste.
Ultimate HunterYour ultimate gains
Presence of MindDamaging an enemy champion restores 6-50 (80% for ranged) mana or 6 energy.
Takedowns restore 15% of your maximum mana or energy.
Cooldown for damage restoration: 8s
Last StandDeal 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. Fiddlesticks, Udyr, Shaco, Qiyana 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
Udyr
Shaco
QiyanaKarthus Runes - Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best Karthus runes in patch 26.1?
The best Karthus runes in patch 26.1 use the Domination tree with Dark Harvest, Cheap Shot, Sixth Sense, and Ultimate Hunter, and the Sorcery tree with Axiom Arcanist and Gathering Storm. This rune setup achieves a 66.7% win rate with a 0.9% pick rate.
What is the win rate for Karthus's best rune page?
Karthus's best rune page has a 66.7% win rate in patch 26.1, which is +15.7% compared to Karthus's average win rate. This rune setup has a 0.9% 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 26.1. This keystone synergizes well with Karthus's kit and provides a 66.7% 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, Sixth Sense, 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 Dark Harvest from the Domination 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 0.9% pick rate in patch 26.1. This indicates that 0.9% of Karthus players use the Dark Harvest setup with Domination and Sorcery trees.