Resets her ultimate on a kill, chaining takedowns in one fight.
AssassinJungleDeals magic
Karina is a jungle assassin who dashes onto a target with Shadow Assault, marking them and leaving a Shadowform she can dash back to; killing the marked target instantly resets the ultimate's cooldown. She backs that up with Dance of Blades, which blocks all incoming basic attacks and reflects damage, and a passive that deals true damage on the third consecutive hit against any target.
Difficulty
Moderate
Specialities
FinisherMagic Damage
Her combo is simple to execute, but choosing a target she can actually confirm the kill on is what separates a reset chain from a wasted ultimate.
Beaten by
103 hard
Strong into
15
Best duos
9
Builds
2
At a glance
Damage
8 of 10
Durability
4 of 10
Crowd Control
3 of 10
Mobility
7 of 10
Utility
3 of 10
Rated against the whole roster, not against their own class.
When Karina is strong
Attributes
Damage
8
Durability
4
Crowd Control
3
Mobility
7
Utility
3
Strengths
Shadow Assault resets its cooldown on a kill, letting her chain multiple takedowns in a single fight.
Dance of Blades blocks all incoming basic attacks while reflecting damage, shutting down marksmen in a duel.
The passive's true damage on the third consecutive hit ignores magic defense entirely against tanky targets.
A full burst combo can delete a squishy target from near-full HP in a single rotation once she has core items.
Weaknesses
Falls off against stacked magic defense since most of her damage isn't true damage.
Dance of Blades' basic-attack block doesn't stop skill damage, so she still dies to burst combos.
Shadow Assault's reset only triggers on a kill, so a botched engage leaves her without an escape.
Very low durability; a single hard CC chain from a tank usually ends the fight before she can act.
Skills
Max Dance of Death first for damage and cooldown, then Dance of Blades for sustain and dueling; take Shadow Assault at 4, 8 and 12.
Passive
Shadow Combo
Buff
Karina's third consecutive attack on the same enemy deals extra True Damage equal to 50 plus 5 (+2.5% Total Magic Power)% of their lost HP (up to 2000 True Damage against creeps). If the target is an enemy hero, the cooldowns Karina's non-Ultimate skills are reduced by 1.5 seconds.
Always active — no cooldown
What the terms mean(2)
True Damage Skill
Deal True Damage to enemies. Triggers Spell Vamp.
True Damage
If there is no way to reduce damage taken, you can try increasing Max HP
Skill 1
Dance of Blades
BuffSpeed Up
Karina enters the Dance of Blades state for 3.5 seconds, during which she gains 45% extra Movement Speed, blocks all incoming Basic Attacks, and reflects 100–200 (+30% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage back to the attacker (the damage reflection effect has a cooldown of 0.4 seconds). Karina's Basic Attack within the duration deals 150–255 (+55% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage, slows the target by 45% for 1 second, and is guaranteed critical strike.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Cooldown
7s
Mana
70 → 120
Skill 2
Dance of Death
AOE
Karina launces a spinning slash, dealing 375–600 (+125% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to nearby enemies.
Cooldown
6s
Mana
60 → 100
What the terms mean(1)
Magic Damage Skill
Deal Magic DMG to enemies. Triggers Spell Vamp.
Ultimate
Shadow Assault
BurstMobility
Karina dashes to the target enemy hero, dealing 350–750 (+160% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage, applying a Shadow Mark to them, and leaving a Shadowform behind them. The Shadow Mark and Shadowform both last 5 seconds. If the enemy dies within the duration, the cooldown of this skill is reset. Use Again: Karina dashes back to the Shadowform's location, dealing 150–250 (+50% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to enemies along the way.
Cooldown
34s
Mana
100 → 140
Signature combo
Shadow Assault to dash in and mark the target → Dance of Death for AoE burst → basic attacks to trigger the passive's true damage on the third hit, finishing with Shadow Assault's Use Again if the kill isn't secured.
Karina builds
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
Burst Jungle
7,970g total
Default pick when Karina takes the jungle role for early tempo and picks.
A well-timed Retribution on a low-HP objective — a 'smite steal' — can snatch Turtle or Lord away from a team that appeared to be securing it, often the single biggest swing play of the early-to-mid game.
Swap in when needed
Winter Crown — Against burst assassins or mages threatening to kill her before she confirms a reset.
Divine Glaive — Against a stacked magic-defense frontline blunting her burst.
Ice Queen Wand — Against a mobile carry she needs to slow down to actually catch.
Karina Burst Jungle build: Magic Shoes, then Lightning Truncheon, then Holy Crystal, then Genius Wand.
Anti-Tank Burst
7,840g total
Against a tanky frontline stacking magic defense that blunts her raw magic damage.
Unlike Purify, Sprint does nothing against stuns or roots already applied — it only prevents future slows and outruns melee threats, so it's best on heroes who aren't the primary CC target.
Swap in when needed
Blood Wings — Extra burst and a shield for repeated dive attempts.
Winter Crown — Insurance for diving in first onto an isolated target.
Clock of Destiny — For a longer game where scaling magic power outweighs early burst.
Karina Anti-Tank Burst build: Magic Shoes, then Holy Crystal, then Divine Glaive, then Glowing Wand.
Who counters Karina
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
Land the passive's third consecutive basic attack for true damage before finishing with skills against tanky targets.
2
Use Dance of Blades to duel a marksman in lane — it blocks their basic attacks entirely while she reflects damage.
3
Save Shadow Assault for a target you can confirm the kill on, since only a kill resets the cooldown.
4
Use Shadow Assault's Use Again to dash back to the Shadowform for a surprise return attack or a clean escape.
Karina — common questions
Is Karina good for beginners?
Yes — Karina's combo is simple to execute, which makes her one of the more approachable burst assassins, though picking targets she can confirm kills on takes more experience.
What is the best build for Karina?
Magic Shoes into Lightning Truncheon, Holy Crystal and Genius Wand gives strong burst and cooldown reduction for the standard jungle role; switch toward Divine Glaive against tanky frontlines.
Which heroes counter Karina?
Gloo can stick to her and tank through her non-true damage, and Zhuxin's Lantern Flare can lock her down from range before she ever gets a dash off.
Why does Karina's ultimate reset?
Shadow Assault's cooldown resets whenever the marked target dies within the Shadow Mark's duration, which is what lets her chain multiple kills in a single fight.
