Katarina AD On-Hit Build Guide: Complete Champion Overview Patch 15.4.1

Katarina AD On-Hit Build Guide: Complete Champion Overview Patch 15.4.1

By Marcus Chen

February 25, 2025 at 06:13 AM

Katarina is a high-skill assassin whose effectiveness scales dramatically with player experience. Her unique reset mechanics make her deadly in teamfights, while offering flexibility between AD on-hit and AP builds.

Passive - Insatiability

  • Reduces cooldowns by 15s when damaging champions who die within 3s
  • Resets all basic abilities on kills/assists
  • Dropped daggers deal area damage scaling with AD, AP, and on-hit effects

Ability Priority

  1. Put 3 points in Q (Dancing Blade)
  2. Max E (Blink Step)
  3. Finish maxing Q
  4. Max W (Preparation)
  5. R (Death Lotus) at levels 6/11/16

Core Combat Combos: Without Ultimate: E > Q > W > AA > W dagger > E to Q dagger > AA > AA > E > AA

With Ultimate: E > Q > W > R > W dagger > E to Q dagger > AA > AA > E > AA

Man wearing glasses

Man wearing glasses

Optimal Build Path (AD On-Hit): Starting Items:

  • Long Sword + 3 Health Potions
  • Dark Seal (optional)

Core Items:

  • Blade of the Ruined King
  • Divine Sunderer
  • Death's Dance

Situational Items:

  • Black Cleaver (vs tanks)
  • Maw of Malmortius (vs AP)
  • Guardian Angel (when ahead)
  • Wit's End (mixed damage)

Key Tips:

  • Adapt build between AD on-hit and AP based on enemy composition
  • Focus on mechanical execution over macro play
  • Use resets aggressively but smartly
  • Vary blink positions to avoid predictable patterns
  • Master auto-attack resets with E for maximum damage output
  • Look for roaming opportunities over farming
  • Wait for key cooldowns before engaging

Katarina excels at punishing mistakes and snowballing advantages, making her ideal for players who enjoy high-risk, high-reward playstyles and are willing to invest time mastering her mechanics.

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