How to win the jungle race as Kindred against Karthus · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Kindred's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Karthus.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Kindred Dominant | Dance of Arrows kiting beats melee kits that can't close the gap, while Lay Waste melts camps at record pace. Only one of those wins at the first buff, so press it: take the level-1 crossing, then leave with a camp and a chunk of their health bar. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Kindred Dominant | Wolf's Frenzy plus Q resets let you skirmish from untouchable range. Wall of Pain slows cover their disengage, and with one camp still up on both sides that is not an answer. Take the level-2 skirmish and make Karthus path away from the camps you want. |
| Level 3 Route | Kindred Dominant | With three dashes banked you kite backwards and win every disengage fight. There is no version of this Karthus wins right now — Lay Waste melts camps at record pace, and that folds at the opening scuttle. Show on their side of the river and take the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Kindred Dominant — Keep Fighting | You are the stronger side all through 4-5. Karthus knows it — he out-farms the map through 4-5 — Defile clears at a rate nobody matches and Requiem is coming — so shadow that side of the map and make them fight you anyway. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Lamb's Respite Favoured | Lamb's Respite un-loses fights — take aggressive duels knowing the floor is undeath. Requiem finishes you from anywhere — every low-HP recall is a coin flip now — respect that one window, but the six-spike comparison favors you: take the post-6 duel whenever HP bars start even. |
| First Item Spike | Kraken Slayer / Terminus Spike | Completing your core marksman component grants an explosive physical damage acceleration loop that completely changes your brawling thresholds. Your clear velocity scales heavily, allowing you to secure rapid solo neutral pit takes before Karthus can establish paths. Use this priority window to force aggressive counter-jungle invades or capture remaining marks. Karthus' first item is where Lay Waste stops chipping and starts taking a third of a health bar per cast. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Kindred Favoured at Full Build | You are the better full-build side, narrowly. He deals damage from anywhere and keeps dealing it dead — Death Defied buys the fight, so take the duel with cooldowns up and never mid-rotation. |
Start your clearing path at the Blue Buff camp to secure optimal ability haste looping across your starting single-target nodes before clearing down into the scuttle crab side. Karthus has the fastest clear in the game with Lay Waste and Defile, and he will always be a level ahead if left alone.
Ranked by the race windows in Kindred's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Kindred vs Karthus report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Kindred's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows — Kindred holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Kindred's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows, so Karthus is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Kindred takes Press the Attack on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace, and Domination secondary (Sudden Impact and Treasure Hunter) vs Karthus.
Start Gustwalker Hatchling + Health Potion and back for Noonquiver / Recurve Bow — path toward the next mark on the back. Build Kraken Slayer / Terminus first, then Blade of the Ruined King / Runaan's Hurricane, with Berserker's Greaves.
Playing the other side? Karthus vs Kindred guide →
All Kindred jungle matchups →
More Kindred jungle matchups: vs Ivern · vs Jarvan IV · vs Jax · vs Kayn · vs Kha'Zix · vs Lee Sin