Karina is the shadow blade of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. At a very young age, she was already trained as an assassin. Beyond her brutality and cold-heartedness—she has a tender and loving heart for her younger sister Selena. Her only request to their clan leader is to keep her little sister Selena away from her profession and to have her placed in a safe shelter.
There are times when Karina will be gone for days because of a mission trip. Alone and clueless, Selena can’t do anything but just worry about the fate of her elder sister. Karina would sometimes come back home full of wounds but won’t say a word about it. When Selena can’t bear her worries anymore, she decided to secretly follow her sister after leaving their home. An unexpected dark figure suddenly attacked Selena as she was trailing her. But since Karina already sensed that her sister was following her, she was able to swiftly help her.
Selena saw how her sister was skilled in defeating her attacker and she wanted to be like her. She asked for help from their clan leader about it. Since their clan was already under the cult of the Abyss, Selena ended up becoming a sacrifice instead. When Karina saw her sister’s dark transformation, her heart was crushed. The very thing she was afraid to happen came into reality. She ended up fighting her but was defeated by the immense power of Selena. Since Karina is no match for her, she retreated while promising herself that one day, she will be able to restore her sister to her old self.
Karina Overview
Karina is a mage-assassin hero who is feared for her silent but deadly combos. Her skills have a good set of Buff, Movement Speed boost, Area of Effect, Burst and Blink. She can deflect projectile Basic Attacks and her Ultimate Skill immediately resets when her target is eliminated. With the right strategy, combo and items she can become a formidable assassin on the battlefield.
This guide will have the current Global Top 1 Karina player Pichii. as one of the references. We will be exploring his choice of emblem, spell and items and then take a better look at his best Karina build. This will help us get a good understanding of the factors that helped him reach the top spot for this hero.
Skills
Passive: Shadow Combo
Karina gets a buff when attacking the same target three consecutive times. The third attack will deal 50 + 5%(2.5% Total Magic Power)% of the target’s lost HP of True Damage (2,000 max True Damage for creeps).
Her non-Ultimate skills will have a 1.5 seconds cooldown reduction if the target is an enemy hero.
First Skill: Dance of Blades
For 3.5 seconds, Karina shifts into her Dance of Blades mode. This will allow her to block all Basic Attacks while boosting her Movement Speed by 45%. She will also reflect 100 + 30% Total Magic Damage to the enemy.
Second Skill: Dance of Death
Karina attacks all enemies around her by spinning along her blades to deal 375 + 125% Total Magic Power damage.
Ultimate Skill: Shadow Assault
Karina leaps and attacks a target to deal 350 + 160% Total Magic Power Damage while giving it a Shadow Mark and leaving a Shadowform behind it. The Shadow Mark and Shadowform have a 5-second time limit. If the enemy gets killed within that duration, the cooldown of the skill will be refreshed.
Use again: Karina will swiftly dash to the Shadowform to deal 150 + 50% Total Magic Power damage to all enemies in the path.
Best Karina Build
Items
Arcane Boots. This affordable first item will increase Karina’s Movement Speed while slightly increasing her Magic Penetration. The Magic Penetration will help her bypass some of her target’s Magic Defense making her attacks more painful.
Calamity Reaper. Since Karina deals with a lot of Basic Attacks, this item will buff one of those Basic Attacks after using a skill. On top of that, it will increase her Magic Power, mana and cooldown reduction. It will also give her a mana regeneration feature so she won’t have to keep coming back to the base to replenish it.
Holy Crystal. Exceptionally high magic damage is what this item is about. Aside from its high default Magic Power, it has a passive feature that will increase a large percentage of her overall Magic Power.
Concentrated Energy. This fourth item will help Karina get sustained in the game because of its Magic Lifesteal. It will also significantly increase her Magic Power and HP.
Late Game Items
Blood Wings. This late-game item will bulk up her HP while giving her the highest default Magic Power. On top of that, she will also get a powerful shield that will keep on getting restored every 30 seconds upon breaking.
Winter Truncheon. This final item will give her enemies the shock of their lives because its passive feature can add up to 1,000 Magic Damage. The best thing about it is that it can echo for up to 3 enemies. It will also increase her Magic Power and mana while reducing her skills’ cooldown even further.
Karina Emblem Set
The Global Top 1 Karina player has found the Custom Jungle Emblem set very effective for her. While the Custom Mage Emblem set will work as well, our focus will be heavy on jungling and pushing. We’re all aware that kills won’t win the game but destroying the enemy’s base will. Let’s inspect her optimized configuration of this emblem.
She started by picking and maxing out Brutal which will increase your damage to jungle monsters. This will speed up Karina’s farming and get all of the buffs quicker. For the second feature, she maxed out Knowledge to reduce her cooldown so she can use her skills more.
For the final feature, she picked Demon Slayer to increase her damage to the Lord, Turtle and Towers. It’s clear that push and team buff is what he’s more focused on. Aiming at the most important goal would really help a lot in winning the game.
Battle Spell
Retribution. This is the battle spell that is ideal to use for her as an assassin and a core hero. This is currently used by our Global Top 1 Karina player.
Flicker. If you’re not playing as a core hero, this blink spell is another option to consider. This will let you chase and escape better and it can also serve as an alternative to your first skill.
Karina Gameplay
Skill Upgrade Priority
Dance of Death. Prioritize upgrading this second skill because of its tremendous AoE damage and low cooldown. The cooldown will even go even lower the more it’s upgraded.
Shadow Assault. As Karina’s ultimate skill, never miss upgrading it as soon as it’s ready. It’s a killer skill that instantly refreshes when her target dies within a time limit.
Dance of Blades. There’s no need to rush upgrading it but keep it handy at all times because it’s effective for deflecting, chasing and escaping.
Karina Combo
First Combo:
First Skill + Basic Attack + Second Skill + Basic Attacks
This is the recommended combo at the start of the game the moment you get your second skill.
Second Combo:
First Skill + Basic Attack + Second Skill + Ultimate Skill + Ultimate Skill + Basic Attacks
This will be your main combo as soon as you activate your ultimate kill.
Fighting Strategy
Poke. In many cases, you shouldn’t use your ultimate skill right away when doing a combo with Karina. Make sure that your target’s life is low enough to get eliminated when attacking it with your ultimate skill. Start by just poking it with your first two skills to severely damage it and then move back out. Wait for the skills’ cooldown to get finished and then attack your target again but with the ultimate skill this time to kill it.
Ambush. Always look for an opportunity for a surprise attack by hiding inside the bush when an enemy is approaching. You can also target a solo enemy. The moment you get your major items, it will be easy for you to swiftly eliminate squishy heroes like marksmen and fellow assassins. Make sure to target them first and prevent them from getting their strong items. Marksman heroes can be very deadly in the late part of the game.
Teamplay
Farm. Based on the recommended jungle emblem and core player role, start the game by getting the buffs and killing the jungle monsters. Take note that your emblem gives you extra damage to the Turtle, Lord and Tower so make sure to focus on those three. Killing the Turtle will level up your entire team while killing the Lord will give your team a push advantage.
Assist. While farming is critical, don’t neglect the importance of helping your teammates. Since you’re empowered by buffs, you have a fighting advantage against your enemies. Being there to help your allies increases the chances of eliminating an enemy.
Team Fight. Since Karina has high damage but squishy HP, avoid initiating a fight if there are several enemies around. Let the tank or fighter start the clash. Once the AoE and CC attacks are already released, that’s the time you jump into the battle. Prioritize the marksman and mage because they have high damage but are mostly squishy. Your Ultimate Skill is practically unlimited if you continuously attack enemies who are damaged by AoE attacks. There’s a high chance to have a Maniac or Savage kill with this approach.