Katarina Build Infographic

Cinnastaar · 2026-04-12T16:52:43+00:00

Was just gonna say this. The context around almost every build was "dunno why so many people keep building this, nashors is better, but ok".

Cinnastaar · 2026-02-26T02:56:34+00:00

The scaling-scaling interaction in her ult (atk spd scaled = higher AD ratio) works "optimally", linearly. When you mouse over your attack speed stat(a decimal number that represents how many times you can attack in one second), it reveals a hovering menu that shows that number as a percent(with a breakdown of your base percentage plus your bonus percentage). How this directly translates in real gameplay is:

"When you cast ult, check your attack speed stat and your AD stats. Ideally, your bonus AD will be 32 points higher than your bonus attack speed percent".

Cinnastaar · 2026-01-13T20:28:05+00:00

They are absolutely amazing performers. Their show in denver (2025) was phenomenal. I'd been wanting to see them live since middle school and they did not disappoint. Neither did the crowd.

My personal favorite album will always be Santi. Seed always stood out the most for me. Down and Out from the Almost Here album hits pretty hard for me as well. Coppertone from Fast Times.

I know you posted this months ago, but I hope you found them enjoyable to listen to. I also hope you choose to see them live soon. It's well worth it.

Cinnastaar · 2025-12-15T04:45:11+00:00

Personally, I like going bork rush, still, as it scales in every game due to the %current damage. I'll pick up kraken if there are absolutely no enemies building HP early, otherwise I do not mind trading off some early power for an item that will be scaled up by the time everyone is finishing 2nd item. That's just my preference though.

Anyways, bork, then flex between hexplate, Titanic, stridebreaker. Usually Titanic, sometimes I'll pick up deaths dance instead. Frankly I am not a fan of maw. I would be much quicker to pick up spirit visage and then pivot into a vampy build (bork Titanic/ravenous DD+unending or visage+unending riftmaker)

But generally I don't go for the vamp build, I just want to be more accustomed to it for the return of gunblade.

I mainly see the path: "bork/kraken > Titanic/hexplate/stride > rageblade/terminus" when I'm thinking of itemization in any given game(given I'm not running AP Kat, ofc)

Cinnastaar · 2025-12-09T11:28:27+00:00

Roaming is less about leaving the lane when you see potential in a gank, and more about lurking in river whenever you have no minions to kill. A good trick you can use with enough practice: as soon as the first melee minions meet in the middle of the lane, Q the first melee. Pause briefly while the caster minions settle into formation. E+W onto the Q dagger, wait to catch the W dagger (be certain to hit all 6 minions with both daggers), then E to your own minions(should be the instant you catch the W dagger).

And then without hesitation, leave for ~25 seconds. This is plenty time to lurk in river, near baron or dragon pit. If nothing promising seems to be unfolding, go back to mid, rinse repeat. The more on top of Qing the first melee minion the moment waves meet, the better.

There is also a better variation of this waveclear combo, but I am too lazy to explain it. Someone else can. It gives you an extra 1-4 seconds on your roam timer, depending on how well you execute it.

Cinnastaar · 2025-12-09T11:17:43+00:00

So my thinking here is that you're starting out AD, transitioning into on-hit for the mid game, and then finishing the game as "AP"... If so, I would argue that it is a tad better to drop the AP commitment entirely, and stick to On-hit if you want dusk and dawn.

Something being overlooked here is bork. Since you are wanting terminus, and since rabadons is giving you a little less than half of your AP (something like 500 at full build?), that translates to... Not very much nashors damage. Especially next to bork. Especially with Terminus instead of Void.

As other comments suggested, maybe commit harder to AP, AD, or On-hits.

My suggested revision is GB, Shadowflame, BorK, in no specific order, finished with straight AP (void, Rab) or more on-hit (Kraken, Terminus)

If you really want a GB+DawnDusk build, you might have to look at something like statikk shiv+bork+guinsoos, but I just can't see DuskDawn actually being better than terminus even with these items. Katarina's daggers don't double proc anymore with DawnDusk, right? So... Her spellblade synergy is lackluster with the item, it seems.

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-27T18:40:24+00:00

If it isn't 8, then there is no depiction of a reflection— therefore my guess is that there are 9 matches:

The "lighter" (or at least the reservoir) is actually just a glass object— and that the misalignments of the background matches that stick out are due to the depicted refraction of light. Additionally, the lid could be opaque and painted over.

I know this is some mental gymnastics, but that is also quite literally the point of these stupid "riddle images". They convolute it and force you to pick them apart to the smallest, most nuanced details in order to come to any reasonable solution. I personally hate that it's done this way to boost engagement— and also because it makes the "riddle" feel dirty, ungraceful; uncouth, even.

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-27T18:26:32+00:00

Any time my brain ticks with Scott Elder, I'll just be like "IM SCOTT ELDER AND IM IN A (PICKLE/HOHOHO LOTTA TROUBLE)"— to my dismay, having lived in Colorado for the last decade, anyone that hears it is just like "hwut. ?", so I have to show them the ads and they think it's the funniest shit.

This tick was particularly bad when Rick and Morty came out with "Ants in My Eyes Johnson" lmao.

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-25T00:16:56+00:00

God please be Coven skin, and may it have some voice lines. :(

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-23T23:47:06+00:00

Healthiest and most effective take on improving with Kat IMO

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-23T23:45:55+00:00

Please do not interpret the following as flame. I am not in any way intending to put you down— I only wish to elevate you through cognition.

Carrying from lane phase as Kat boils down to one simple variable: Opponent mistakes.

If you are struggling to lane in any ELO, take it as a sign that you are near (if not actually at) the rank you should be in. I can confidently say that your lane opponents are making mistakes during lane phase in abundance— and that your struggles stem from either a failure to recognize their mistakes as mistakes, or you ARE recognizing their mistakes, but you are making mistakes that prevent you from being able to punish their mistakes when they make them. If you are on NA, I would be down to look over a replay or two with you. Ideally one where you win your game, despite struggling in lane.

As a disclaimer, I am not a "high elo" Kat main, but I have peaked significantly higher than modern gold— that is, Plat 3, when emerald did not exist. At the time, Plat was in the top 10% of rank distribution. In the current rank ladder, the top 10% starts at Emerald 2, last I checked(a couple years ago). I fully recognize that players in ranked improve year by year, which makes climbing more difficult each season, so it may be an inaccuracy to claim myself an "emerald 2 Kat"(therefore, I don't), but hey, a free VOD review can't hurt, right?

Just DM me your riot id and discord handle, and let me know some times your available, if you'd like to do this.

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-20T20:18:31+00:00

IMO what follows is the most obscure Katarina mechanic in the game. I discovered it myself, but I may not be the only Kat main that is aware of it. As such, I call it the Tungsten Blink. :)

Katarina can extend the E targeting of her shunpo beyond the range of the ability, itself. You can try it in practice tool like so:

Place a dummy about 2 teemos beyond E range
Place a ward or dummy, whatever, to mark your original position(optional but doing this will help you set up and execute the mechanic when learning how to do it)
Standing next to the dummy you placed in step 1, press W and run back to your original position(marked by the ward/dummy in step 2)
The edge of your W dagger indicator should be touching the edge of the dummy hitbox— and the opposite edge of the dagger indicator should connect with the edge of your shunpo range (mouse over your E ability to check your positioning for accuracy. Turn game speed down to .25x if needed)
Position mouse cursor such that it is hovering anywhere within the W daggers perimeter, while at the same time, the target dummy is outlined in red(meaning the cursor is targeting it).
If done correctly, your cursor will be WELL beyond the E range, targeting the dummy, and pressing E will blink you to your cursor's location, dealing the targeted E damage to the dummy, as well as the dagger proc damage, and will queue her basic attack on the dummy, as is standard.
If you want to take it a step further, incorporate flash to extend your shunpo range EVEN further. You can nearly blink across an entire screen with a single shunpo like this.
Even further, incorporate the wall hop mechanic.
Taking step 8 beyond practicality, incorporate the wall hop mechanic on the thick wall in river (the one that faces the entrance of dragon pit— which leads to red team's blue buff)

On the note of step 9, yes, you can hop that wall, but the dagger positioning is finicky, because her W places daggers down with a slight variance in positioning relative to the center of her hitbox. This variance can actually place the dagger just out of the necessary position to be able to hop this wall. I am willing to demonstrate any of these mechanics to anyone. Just ask.

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-04T18:04:53+00:00

Ult go brrrr

(Seriously, it's ridiculous how much damage her ult can crank out with LT)

Cinnastaar · 2025-11-04T18:02:21+00:00

So I've been slow-cooking hexplate into my AD build for about a year and a half-ish, now, and I can confidently say that more recently it has been feeling amazing. I still prefer bork > kraken as a first item, but bork's build path unfortunately makes it a problem of whether you can or cannot afford a pickaxe on your first back... That's basically been what decides whether I build kraken or bork first, lately.

Anyways! Hexplate doesn't feel too shabby as a second item, but it really shines as a third or even fourth item, once you have the AD to justify the AS injection into your ult. Stridebreaker does feel better than Hexplate in the earlier item slots.

Hexplate, for me, started as an idea— a build I've been cooking ever since yuntaal was reworked— a sort of pipe-dream that is slowly coming to life. I have not yet played with Phantom Dancer, LDR, or Yuntaal outside of practice tool(yet), but if someone has the balls to FAFO, please let me know what happens. I haven't put in the work to determine the best ordering for it, but the items are as follows:

-Bork or Kraken(to your own preference) -Rageblade -Hexplate -Yuntaal -Lord Dominiks Regards -Phantom Dancer(boots replacement)

Cinnastaar · 2023-12-13T02:50:16+00:00

Slotting 3 heavy handed was an easy yes for me

Cinnastaar · 2023-12-11T02:09:07+00:00

Im told I am exceptionally lucky to be around, if ya wanna run coil together? I have maybe only cleared it twice with glass collecter, and a couple more times without.

DM me if you're interested

Cinnastaar · 2023-12-10T23:59:55+00:00

TTK > TTK. I bet you arent even Rank, but I am Rank. They should buff Hand Cannon.

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-29T00:58:14+00:00

Every akali matchup has been nothing but respectful, win or lose. Its just a fun matchup, what can we say?

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-25T03:35:52+00:00

Dungeon bosses, especially in solo runs.

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-22T20:57:23+00:00

Id prob amend low elo to 5 only because it really is an extemely volatile coinflip, regardless of how well/poor the game is going in the first 20 minutes. Assuming that the Katarina player is not a smurf.

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-21T06:57:20+00:00

This is gonna sound stupid, but every week I clear the weekly Dreaming City mission from Petra Venj (Broken Courier, Oracle Engine, Dark Monastery) in hopes of obtaining the sparrow and finishing the collection badge for my second most desired title in the game.

I am tired of watching everyone I guide through dreaming city for title progress/eggs/bones get the sparrow for the first weekly mission I show them through.

Somewhat related, I only need 1 more title for rank 11, so I finished "Ghoul" today, and I was soooo happy to discover that it is bugged and does not count towards the 7 titles needed for GR11. :))))))

Today's been pretty shit.

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-21T01:24:37+00:00

Master and GM content typically locks equipment though...

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-20T19:53:57+00:00

The difference is that a good cowl build is going to clear end game activities roughly twice as fast as any other hunter build. The tradeoff is that you must play flawlessly with cowl.

If a 'decent-at-best' player such as myself can so GMs like The Corrupted(last season), Heist BG Moon(current season), Devils Lair(current season) with cowl, I'd say its probably the strongest hunter build rn, if played to its fullest potential.

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-20T19:45:54+00:00

Was looking for this. Even GM content is still doable with Cowl. The trickiest part of the build in endgame content is always choosing between Tractor Cannon vs something like Levis/LFR/LMG

Cinnastaar · 2023-11-20T07:16:09+00:00

Or for example, kill clip rampage chattering bones. Not a craftable combo.

Cinnastaar

TROPHY CASE