Karina Guide

Karina: The Shadow Assassin Guide

Alright, here's a comprehensive guide for Karina in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, covering her primary and a secondary lane, builds, emblems, talents, and counter items.

Karina is primarily played as a Jungler but is sometimes seen in the Mid Lane.

I. Karina's Role & Playstyle

Karina excels at bursting down squishy targets with her high mobility and True Damage. Her main strength is her ability to quickly enter and exit team fights, eliminating key enemies, and resetting her skills with each kill or assist.

• Jungler: Roams the jungle, farms efficiently, and ganks lanes to secure kills and objectives. Requires strong map awareness and decision-making.
• Mid Laner: Provides burst damage and wave clear, roams to assist sidelanes, and controls the river. Requires good positioning and target prioritization.

II. Karina Jungle Guide

Karina's power lies in her burst damage and mobility, making her a formidable jungler capable of quickly eliminating enemy heroes. Here's how to optimize her jungle gameplay:

A. Core Build (Jungle):

• Raptor Machete: Essential for jungle farming speed and retribution damage.
• Magic Shoes: Movement speed is crucial for ganking and rotating.
• Calamity Reaper: Provides true damage after using a skill, synergizing well with Karina's passive.
• Holy Crystal: Significantly increases magic power for higher burst damage.
• Genius Wand: Magic PEN, further reducing enemy magic resistance.
• Blood Wings: Provides additional magic power and a shield for survivability.

Build 1 (Burst Focus):

• Emblem: Assassin
  • Talent 1: Agility (Movement Speed)
  • Talent 2: Invasion (Magic Penetration)
  • Talent 3: Killing Spree (Restores HP and increases Movement Speed after a kill)

Explanation: This is your go-to build for maximizing burst damage. The Assassin emblem provides much-needed Magic Penetration, and Killing Spree allows you to snowball after securing kills.

• Battle Spell: Retribution

Build 2 (Sustain & Survivability):

• Emblem: Assassin
  • Talent 1: Agility (Movement Speed)
  • Talent 2: Invasion (Magic Penetration)
  • Talent 3: High and Dry (Deals increased damage to single enemy.)

Explanation: This build is geared towards sustain, allowing you to stay in fights longer. The Killing Spree talent helps you survive after securing a kill or assist.

• Battle Spell: Retribution

B. Gameplay (Jungle):

1. Early Game: Prioritize farming jungle camps to reach level 4 quickly. Use Retribution to secure jungle buffs.
2. Mid Game: Look for opportunities to gank lanes, focusing on squishy targets like Marksmen or Mages.
3. Late Game: Position yourself to burst down key targets in team fights. Use your mobility to enter and exit fights safely.

C. Jungle Counter Items (Situational):

• Against Heavy Magic Resistance:
  • Winter Truncheon: If you keep getting bursted down too fast, buy this to become untargetable for a moment.
    • Switch with: Genius Wand.

III. Karina Mid Lane Guide

Karina's burst damage and wave clear abilities make her a viable mid-laner. Here's how to play her effectively in the mid-lane:

A. Core Build (Mid Lane):

• Arcane Boots: Magic Penetration is crucial for early-game damage.
• Calamity Reaper: Provides true damage after using a skill, synergizing well with Karina's passive.
• Holy Crystal: Significantly increases magic power for higher burst damage.
• Genius Wand: Magic PEN, further reducing enemy magic resistance.
• Glowing Wand: Adds continuous damage and can reveal hidden enemies.
• Blood Wings: Provides additional magic power and a shield for survivability.

Build 1 (Burst Focus):

• Emblem: Magic
  • Talent 1: Mastery (Cooldown Reduction)
  • Talent 2: Observation (Magic Penetration)
  • Tier 3: Magic Worship (Deals damage equals to 7% of the target's Max HP after 3 consecutive hits. This effect has a cooldown of 12s.)

Explanation: This emblem and talent setup focuses on maximizing burst damage output. The Magic Worship talent allows Karina to quickly eliminate enemy heroes.

• Battle Spell: Flicker

Build 2 (Sustain & Utility):

• Emblem: Magic
  • Talent 1: Mastery (Cooldown Reduction)
  • Tier 2: Observation (Magic Penetration)
  • Tier 3: Impure Rage (Damage from Skills will restore 3% of Max Mana. Additional deals 4% of target's current HP as Magic Damage and restores 2% of Max Mana. This effect has a 5s cooldown.)

Explanation: This build aims to provide sustain and utility. Impure Rage helps Karina sustain mana and deal more damage in prolonged fights.

• Battle Spell: Flicker

B. Gameplay (Mid Lane):

1. Early Game: Focus on clearing minion waves and harassing the enemy mid-laner. Look for opportunities to rotate to side lanes for ganks.
2. Mid Game: Push towers and secure objectives. Team up with the jungler to invade the enemy jungle.
3. Late Game: Position yourself to burst down key targets in team fights. Use your mobility to escape dangerous situations.

C. Mid Lane Counter Items (Situational):

• Against Heavy Magic Resistance:
  • Divine Glaive: If enemies are building heavy magic resistance, buy this item to penetrate their defenses.
    • Switch with: Glowing Wand.

IV. General Tips & Tricks

• Master Karina's Combo: Use your skills to quickly close the gap, deal damage, and escape safely. The most common combo is Skill 2 (Dance of Death) -> Skill 1 (Elusiveness) -> Basic Attack (with Calamity Reaper) -> Skill 3 (Shadow Assault) -> Skill 1 (Elusiveness) to escape or chase.
• Use your passive effectively: Karina's passive, Combo Hit, deals extra True Damage. This is crucial for bursting down tanks and high-HP targets.
• Practice your timing: Karina's ultimate, Shadow Assault, has a short cooldown reset upon killing or assisting. Master the timing to chain kills and snowball the game.
• Adapt your build: Don't be afraid to adjust your build based on the enemy team composition. If they have heavy magic resistance, prioritize magic penetration items.
• Positioning is key: Karina is a fragile hero. Position yourself carefully in team fights to avoid getting targeted by the enemy team.
• Don't be afraid to retreat: Karina can sometimes be a difficult hero to use effectively. Learn how to play safe and don't be afraid to back out of fights if necessary.

V. General Counter Heroes

• Crowd Control (CC) Heroes: Heroes like Aurora, Eudora, and Kaja can easily lock down Karina and prevent her from escaping.
• High Burst Damage Heroes: Heroes like Harley and Vale can burst down Karina before she can react.
• Tanky Heroes: Heroes like Khufra and Grock can disrupt Karina's combo and make it difficult for her to secure kills.
• Heroes with Anti-Assassin Abilities: Natalia and Saber can counter-initiate against Karina.
• Heroes with Reveal Abilities: Lolita can reveal invisible heroes.

VI. Skill Priority

• Max Skill 2 (Dance of Death) first.
• Then max Skill 1 (Elusiveness).
• Level Shadow Assault (Ultimate) whenever available.