League of Legends: Runes Reforged Keystone Runes Breakdown

With the new League of Legends Runes Reforged system arriving shortly after the end of the competitive season, both new and veteran League players are beginning to theorycraft for their mains using Riot’s ‘Create Your Playstyle’ tool. That said, we are looking into some seriously drastic changes coming into the preseason update, and a new rune system combined with the other preseason changes coming can be pretty overwhelming.

As such, we took a look at the new keystone runes coming in the update and did some top level theorycrafting of our own, that way players heading into the update will have some idea what keystones will work on some champions, and not necessarily on others. The new runes are now split up into five different paths: Precision, Domination, Sorcery, Resolve, and Inspiration. We will tackle each path and provide some useful insight in choosing the correct keystone for the correct champion. As a reminder, the Runes Reforged system is not final, though any changes at this point will most likely be minor ones.

Precision

• Press the Attack – Attacking the same champion grants endlessly stacking attack damage.

Press the Attack is a fairly straightforward keystone. Speedy attackers such as Jinx, Ashe, Vayne, and Kalista will greatly benefit from the keystone, especially in Jinx and Ashe’s case where they both have abilities that increase their attack speed after a certain amount of time. Other good picks for Press the Attack are champions whose kits at least in some part revolve around attacking the same champion multiple times, of which there are many. Some of these include Darius, Vi, Vayne, Tristana, Kalista, FIora, and Varus. A few picks that would not get the most out of this keystone are Corki, Caitlyn, Graves, Miss Fortune, and Xayah – typically more bursty champions, or ones that do a significant amount of AOE damage.

• Lethal Tempo – 1.5 seconds after damaging a champion gain a large amount of attack speed. Lethal Tempo allows you to temporarily exceed the attack speed limit.

Lethal Tempo can more or less be seen as the flipside of Press the Attack. Rather than granting the champion stacking attack damage, champions are instead given a large amount of attack speed after 1.5 seconds. As there is a bit of a delay between attacking an enemy champion and receiving the attack speed buff, this keystone works best on champions that love to brawl for extended periods of time, and also for champions that like to initiate with hard CC, which will provide them with a little time before the keystone kicks in. Lethal Tempo will also benefit champions that like to hit their enemies multiple times quickly to benefit their kits. As such, Lethal Tempo will benefit more champions than it won’t. Some of the best champions to take Lethal Tempo on are Ashe, Kayle, Aatrox, Jax, Diana (if she’s built as a brawler), Irelia, Kog’Maw, Lucian, Tryndamere, Twisted Fate (AD build), Xayah, Warwick, and Xin Zhao. Champions that would be better off going with a different keystone include some of the more bursty attack damage champions and those that rely more on their abilities than auto attacking, such as Evelynn, Kayn, Kha’Zix, Nidalee, Rengar, Riven, and Gangplank.

• Fleet Footwork – Attacking and moving builds energy stacks. At 100 stacks, your next attack heals you and grants increased movement speed.

Fleet Footwork, for all intents and purposes, is Warlord’s Bloodlust. As such, the champions that work well now with Warlord’s are those that often have time to move around and rely on positioning when they attack, such as Jhin, Fiora, Master Yi, and Ezreal. Champions that do substantially less running and gunning are better off using either of the two keystones above.

Domination

• Electrocute – Hitting a champion with 3 unique attacks or abilities in 2 seconds deals bonus magic damage.

Riot knows when they have something good going for them in-game, so Thunderlord’s Decree is simply getting a new name once the preseason update rolls out. Spellweaving attackers and animation cancellers will, as always, get a lot out of Electrocute, as would the occasional champion that builds both AD and AP, such as Kayle, Akali, and Diana, depending on the build. Assassin champions like Talon will also benefit from the renamed Thunderlord’s. 

• Predator – Add an active effect to your boots that grants a large boost of movement speed and causes your next attack or spell to deal bonus damage.

Engaging is the name of the game when it comes to the Predator keystone. Concocting a sort of Frankenstein active effect by combining the Righteous Glory and Lich Bane abilities, this keystone works best on tanky engagers, initiators, and gankers, such as Alistar, Amumu, Volibear, Galio, Evelynn, Hecarim, Maokai, Sejuani, Sion, and Wukong. Supports can also get away with using Predator for the extra engage potential in lane, or for those support champions that transform into team initiation during the mid and late game, such as Leona, Morgana, and Taric.

• Dark Harvest – Champions, large minions, and large monsters drop soul essence on death. Touch souls to absorb them and deal bonus damage on your next attack based on total soul essence collected.

Everyone wants to be like Thresh. From the outside looking in, Dark Harvest appears to be a bit of a flavor pick in terms of keystone selection. Champions that gain stat boosts from farming, such as Sion and Nasus, can potentially get some use out of the keystone. As Sion, players can use Decimating Smash or Roar of the Slayer to set up Dark Harvest, then close in using the CC on both abilities in order to get the keystone proc off. As far as Nasus goes, try to picture a Siphoning Strike that has been empowered with a bunch of soul essence from Dark Harvest. Things can get pretty scary for anyone on the receiving end.

Sorcery

• Summon Aerie – Your attacks and abilities send Aerie to a target, damaging enemies or shielding allies.

Summon Aerie is essentially the keystone version of Lulu’s ‘Help, Pix!’ ability. As such, its home will for the most part be on a support champion given its versatility. Soraka healing an ally will also shield them, while Braum using Winter’s Bite on the enemy ADC will do extra damage while setting them up for his Concussive Blows passive. There are tons of combinations players can find while using their favorite support champions. 

• Arcane Comet – Hitting a champion with a spell hurls a damaging comet at them.

Arcane Comet is shaping up to be the bread and butter pick for mages on the Summoner’s Rift. An extremely straightforward keystone, it can work very well on most mages, while also providing additional safe damage output for longer range attackers, such as Xerath, Varus, Vel’Koz, Ziggs, and Kog’Maw. The real struggle with Arcane Comet is deciding whether or not it does enough for your champion of choice depending on your playstyle, and whether or not a different keystone offers more. For the most part, though, Arcane Comet is a solid pick for AP carries. 

• Phase Rush – Hitting an enemy champion with 3 unique attacks or abilities grants a burst of Movement Speed.

Phase Rush appears to be a retooled version of Stormraider’s Surge, and is a useful keystone for champions that need to stick to their opponents like glue. Champions that use multiple abilities quickly when engaging enemy champions (and oftentimes lack hard CC of their own) would benefit the most here. As such, champions like Fiora, Dr. Mundo, Ekko, Nidalee, Elise, Lee Sin, Nocturne, and Illaoi would all greatly benefit from Phase Rush. Champions that have little trouble locking down their opponents would be better off going with a different keystone.

Resolve

• Grasp of the Undying – Every 4 seconds your next attack on a champion deals bonus damage, heals you, and permanently increases your health.

The updated Grasp of the Undying is going to be an extremely fun keystone for bruisers and juggernauts. Blending in extra damage, sustain, and a permanent increase to your champion’s health pool, champions like Sion, Olaf, Cho’Gath, Volibear, Garen, Jarvan IV, and Renekton will benefit greatly from this keystone. Grasp will work particularly well on champions whose kits benefit from increased health, like the previously mentioned Sion, Cho’Gath, and Volibear. Just don’t let yourselves get Lee Sin kicked into your allies. 

• Guardian – Right-clicking on an allied champion grants you both a shield.

The Guardian is another strong keystone pick for supports. Support champions that prefer to focus on safe laning phases rather than aggression, such as Janna, Lulu, Soraka, and Sona should go with the Guardian keystone. For support champions that typically harass the enemy bot laners, Summon Aerie would be a wiser choice.

• Aftershock – After immobilizing an enemy champion gain defenses and later deal a burst of damage around you.

Aftershock is another excellent choice for tanky engagers, particularly those with hard CC. The added survivability and bonus AOE damage will greatly benefit champions like Amumu, Malphite, Leona, Alistar, Galio, Jarvan IV, and Maokai. Additionally, several dive mages can get away with using this keystone as well. Mages that are designed to jump into the middle of a team fight and immobilize their enemies, such as Kennen, Lissandra, Morgana, Diana, and Swain can make good use of Aftershock. 

Inspiration

• Glacial Augment – Your first attack against an enemy champion slows them (per unit cooldown). Slowing champions with active items shoots a freeze ray at them, creating a lingering slow zone.

Both of the keystones available within the Inspiration path are niche picks, with Glacial Augment being the more conditional and item-reliant of the two. Most champions would at least partially benefit from a slow effect added onto their first attack on an enemy champion. The real benefit – and this is rather opinionated – is when paired up with a mage champion that typically purchases a Liandry’s Torment. As the burn damage on Liandry’s passive is doubled against movement-impaired units, the Glacial Augment will provide an extra bit of damage on the champion’s first attack, rather than having to dish out CC from a champion’s kit before getting the most use out of Liandry’s passive. The freeze ray effect is even more situational, as players will only get use out of it if they typically purchase a Frost Queen’s Claim or another item with an active effect that slows enemy champions.

• Summoner Specialist – Get Summoner Shards and exchange them at the shop to change your Summoner Spells.

If you have ever wished you had a different summoner spell halfway through a game, the Summoner Specialist keystone is for you. There are plenty of optimal times for champions to swap out the summoner spells they started the game with, and it will be up to the individual player to determine whether or not they prefer a different, more useful keystone. In terms of which role is best suited to take Summoner Specialist, it would most likely be the support role, as the other members of the team cannot afford to sacrifice the overwhelming benefits of some of the other keystones for the perks of this keystone. 

• Kleptomancy – After casting a spell, your next attack grants bonus gold.  There’s a chance you’ll also gain a consumable.

This is another excellent keystone for support champions. Oftentimes at a gold deficit compared to other champions, Kleptomancy will help keep a support’s coffers brimming, especially those that typically mash their abilities, such as Taric, Sona, and Soraka. With the added chance of obtaining a consumable, the keystone should also occasionally contribute to said champion’s sustain, letting them last a bit longer before having to recall.