'League of Legends' Preseason Will Separate Bonus Stats from Runes

Riot Games is planning on separating League of Legends’ runes from the stat bonuses that they [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Riot Games is planning on separating League of Legends' runes from the stat bonuses that they currently grant while replacing it with a system that lets players pick their own stats.

It's an idea that's been discussed before, and in Riot Games' most recent preseason update, it revealed plans to move forward with the stat bonus change. League of Legends gameplay producer Richard "Riot MapleNectar" Henkel shared an update and said that "Rune paths no longer dictate stat bonuses" before explaining how the new stat bonus system will function in the preseason.

Settling on what he refers to as a "pick 3" system, the stats will allow players to choose a stat to fill three different categories. The first is geared towards offensive stats, the second towards defensive, and the third one being what he called a "free" choice of either offense or defense depending on the preferred playstyle for the rune page. Offensive options that players can pick from currently include attack damage, ability power, attack speed, and scaling cooldown reduction. Defensive options include armor, magic resist, and scaling health, though those are all subject to change since the new feature hasn't been implemented yet.

There are some stats that aren't being examined for the bonus options though, ones that Riot Games says its either cut or isn't even considering. Health regeneration, flat cooldown reduction, and scaling resists being the big three that aren't going to be featured in the bonuses. The regeneration would make it so that champions rarely die in lane, Riot MapleNectar said, while the flat cooldown reduction wouldn't mesh well with current cooldown reduction values. The lack of scaling resists was explained in the most detail with Riot saying the preference there was skewed more towards front-loaded defenses.

"These fall into a category where they aren't bad design but when we overall want to limit each slot to ideally 3, maybe 4 choices these didn't make the cut," Riot MapleNectar said. "By the late game these resists are overshadowed by items so the up front resists were more interesting."

The Rioter concluded the discussion about stat bonuses from runes by saying that Riot is "pretty happy" with the new system and how it lets players tailor their stats to a champion's strengths.

League of Legends' new stat bonuses system is expected to ship during the preseason period.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of