League of Legends Runes Guide

Upon first glance at the Runes system in League of Legends, it can appear to be quite daunting, but we can assure you that the system is in fact fairly easy to understand, once you have grasped the fundamental concepts.

These include what the Runes are, what their purpose is, their names and which ones work best for which champions. The entire Rune system was completely redefined a few years ago, but if you are a new player or are returning from before the Rune system was changed, then this guide is aimed at you.

Even if you are a current League of Legends player, it may still be worth your time reading this guide as you might learn something new!

Runes are unique characteristics that are used to enhance champion abilities and statistics. Players can opt to select their Rune page and customize their picks before the game begins, as you cannot play a game without a selected Rune page. Even if you fail to make your choices in time, the system will automatically load a default Rune page for you.

Runes may be altered and changed in Rune Pages and you may purchase up to 25 different Rune Pages per account. You are awarded a few for free after gaining certain amounts of EXP and reaching certain level milestones, but after this, you may only purchase Rune Pages for 3150 Blue Essence or 295 Riot Points (RP).

Each type of Rune Page will consist of one Keystone Rune, which is the strongest out of all and will pose as the most impactful and active addition to your champion’s in game prowess, as well as 5 Secondary Runes which may be chosen based upon a selection of different Rune branches.

An example of a completed Rune Page will look something like this:

Runes may be divided into five paths or sub categories that focus on different aspects of gameplay. They are as follows:

As we mentioned before, each of the five different types of Runes contain three Keystone Runes, which will have the most influence on your champion. After selecting your Keystone, you will then be tasked with choosing up to five more Secondary Runes from another selection of three for each row.

Depending on which role you choose, your champion or other personal preferences such as your gamestyle, your Rune Page selection can differ from game to game and you are not always restricted to the same Rune Page for a single champion.

Some champions may be quite versatile and as result, can be utilized with different Rune Pages to enhance their abilities in game, depending on the matchup or the types of champions the opponents have picked.

For example, if you are playing Akali in the Mid Lane, it may be optimal for you to pick Fleet Footwork in the event where the enemy has opted for a poke Mage such as Ziggs, as your sustain otherwise will be very tough during laning phase, or at least until you have accumulated enough Omnivamp/Lifesteal from items purchased in the shop.

However, in the event that you are laning against a melee champion such as Yasuo or Zed, it may be wise for you to pick Electrocute or even Conqueror as your Keystone, as this will enable you to do healthy amounts of burst damage in short trades (Electrocute) or will allow you to both deal damage and sustain yourself during prolonged trades/early skirmishes with the junglers (Conqueror).

Either way, it is your responsibility to analyze the situation of the game during champion select and then decide what your best choice of Rune Page will be. If you feel that you do not need to switch Rune Pages from your previous game, or are playing the same champion as before and are opting for the same playstyle, then you may leave your Runes as they are.

Your Rune Pages will give you the option to save your choices upon leaving the page and will be kept the same until you manually go into that Rune Page again and alter the selections. If you are leaving your Rune Pages as they are, you must always check that you are using the right Rune Page as you may not change them once you are in game.

Too often than not, players accidentally select the wrong Rune Pages and are forced to play the game or a certain champion with a sub-optimal Keystone Rune, which is an excruciating experience, especially in Ranked. A good way to ensure you are always making the right choice of Rune Page is by naming them, which can be done by selecting the pen/pencil icon at the top of the page.

Keystone Runes

• Press the Attack – Hitting an enemy champion with 3 consecutive basic attacks deals 40-180 bonus adaptive damage (based on level) makes them vulnerable, dealing bonus damage and causing them to take 8-12% more damage from all sources for 6s.
• Lethal Tempo – 1.5s after damaging a champion, gain 40-110% Attack Speed (based on level) for 3s. Attacking a champion extends the effect to 6s. The cooldown for Lethal Tempo is 6s. Lethal Tempo allows you to temporarily exceed the attack speed limit.
• Fleet Footwork – Attacking and moving builds Energy stacks. At 100 stacks, your next attack is Energized. Energized attacks heal you for 3-60 (+0.3 Bonus AD, +0.3 AP) and grant + 20% movement speed for 1s. Healing from minions is 20% effective for Ranged Champions.
• Conqueror – Attacks or spells that deal damage to an enemy champion grant 2-6 Adaptive Force (based on level) for 2s (8s for melee). Stacks up to 5 times. When fully stacked, 8% of your damage is converted to True Damage and heals you for that amount.

Slot 1

• Overheal – Excess healing on you becomes a shield.
• Triumph – Takedowns restore 12% of your missing health and grant an additional 20 gold.
• Presence of Mind – Enemy champion takedowns restore 20% of your maximum mana and refund 10% of your ultimate’s cooldown.

Slot 2

• Legend: Alacrity – Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Attack Speed.
• Legend: Tenacity – Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Tenacity.
• Legend: Bloodline – Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Lifesteal.

Slot 3

• Coup de Grace – Deal more damage to low health enemy champions.
• Cut Down – Deal more damage to champions with more max health than you.
• Last Stand – Deal more damage to champions while you are low on health.

Keystone Runes

• Electrocute – Hitting a champion with 3 separate attacks or abilities in 3s deals bonus adaptive damage.
• Predator – Add an active effect to your boots that grants a large boost of MS and causes your next attack or ability to deal bonus adaptive damage.
• Dark Harvest – Damaging a champion below 50% of their maximum health deals adaptive damage and harvests their souls, permanently increasing Dark Harvest’s damage by 5. This cannot happen again for 45 seconds, resetting to 1.5 seconds on champion takedown.
• Hail of Blades – Gain 110% Attack Speed when you attack an enemy champion for up to 3 attacks. No more than 2s can elapse between attacks or this effect will end.

Slot 1

• Cheap Shot – Deal bonus true damage to enemies with impaired movement or actions.
• Taste of Blood – Heal when you damage an enemy champion.
• Sudden Impact – Gain a burst of Lethality and Magic Penetration after using a dash, leap, blink. teleport, or when leaving stealth.

Slot 2

• Zombie Ward – After killing an enemy ward, a friendly Zombie Ward is raised in its place. Damaging a champion after destroying a ward inflicts bonus magic damage.
• Ghost Poro – When your wards expire, they leave behind a Ghost Poro, which grants vision for 60s. Nearby enemy champions scare the Ghost Poro away.
• Eyeball Collection – Collect eyeballs for champion takedowns. Gain an adaptive bonus of 1.2 Attack Damage or 2 Ability Power, per eyeball collected.

Slot 3

• Ravenous Hunter – Unique takedowns grant permanent healing from ability damage.
• Ingenious Hunter – Unique takedowns grant permanent Active Item CDR (includes Trinkets).
• Relentless Hunter – Unique champion takedowns grant permanent out of combat MS.
• Ultimate Hunter – Your ultimate cooldown is lowered and is further reduced the first time you get a takedown on each enemy champion.

Keystone Runes

• Summon Aery – Your attacks and abilities send Aery to a target, damaging enemies or shielding allies.
• Arcane Comet – Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a damaging comet at their location.
• Phase Rush – Hitting an enemy champion with 3 attacks or separate abilities grants a burst of MS and Slow Resistance.

Row 1

• Nullifying Orb – Gain a magic damage shield when taken to low health by magic damage.
• Manaflow Band – Hitting enemy champions with a spell grants 25 maximum mana, up to 250 mana. Upon earning 250 mana, Manaflow Band restores 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
• Nimbus Cloak – Shortly after casting your Ultimate, gain a burst of decaying movement speed increase that lasts for 2s and allows you to pass through units.

Row 2

• Transcendence – Gain 10% Ability Haste when you reach level 10. Excess Ability Haste becomes AP or AD (Adaptive).
• Celerity – Movement speed bonuses are 7% more effective on you and gain 1% Movement Speed.
• Absolute Focus – While above 70% health, gain extra adaptive damage.

Row 3

• Scorch – Your first ability hit every 10s burns champions.
• Waterwalking – Gain MS and AP or AD (Adaptive) in the river.
• Gathering Storm – Gain increasing amounts of AD or AD (Adaptive) over the course of the game.

Keystone Runes

• Grasp of the Undying – Every 4s your next attack on a champion deals bonus magic damage, heals you, and permanently increases your health.
• Aftershock – After immobilizing an enemy champion, gain defenses and later deal a burst of adaptive damage around you.
• Guardian – Guard allies you cast spells on and those that are very nearby. If you or a guarded ally would take damage, you’re both hasted and granted a shield. Cooldown: 70-40s

Row 1

• Demolish – Charge up a powerful attack against a tower while near it.
• Font of Life – Impairing the movement of an enemy champion marks them. Your allies heal when attacking champions you’ve marked.
• Shield Bash – Gain bonus armor and magic resistance while shielded. Whenever you gain a shield, your next basic attack against a champion deals bonus adaptive damage.

Row 2

• Conditioning – After 10 min, gain +9 Armor and +9 Magic Resist and increase your Armor and Magic Resist by 5%.
• Second Wind – After taking damage from an enemy champion, heal back some missing health over time.
• Bone Plating – After taking damage from an enemy champion, their next three spells or attacks against you deal 30-60 less damage (at levels 1-18).

Row 3

• Overgrowth – Gain additional permanent health when minions or monsters die near you.
• Revitalize – Heals and shields are 5% stronger and increased by an additional 10% on low health targets.
• Unflinching – After casting a Summoner Spell, gain Tenacity and Slow Resistance for a short duration. Additionally, gain Tenacity and Slow Resistance for each Summoner Spell on cooldown.

Keystone Runes

• 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.
• Unsealed Spellbook – While out of combat, you can swap one of your equipped summoner spells to a new, single-use summoner spell. After using the single-use summoner spell, your original summoner spell will swap back in.
• Prototype: Omnistone – Periodically grants a single use of another random keystone.

Row 1

• Hextech Flashtraption – While Flash is on cooldown it is replaced by Hexflash. Hexflash: Channel, then blink to a new location.
• Magical Footwear – You get free boots at 12 min but you cannot buy boots before then. Each takedown you get makes your boots come 45s sooner.
• Perfect Timing – Gain a free Stopwatch. After 14 mins, Stopwatch has a one time use Stasis effect. Each takedown you get shortens this timer by 120s.

Row 2

• Future’s Market – You can enter debt to buy items.
• Minion Dematerializer – Start the game with 3 Minion Dematerializers. Killing minions with the item gives permanent bonus damage vs. that minion type.
• Biscuit Delivery – Gain a free Biscuit every 2 min, until 6 min. Consuming or selling a biscuit permanently increases your max mana and restores health and mana.

Row 3

• Cosmic Insight – +15% Summoner Spell Haste, +10% Item Haste.
• Approach Velocity – Gain bonus MS towards nearby allied champions that are movement impaired or enemy champions that you impair.
• Time Warp Tonic – Your potions or biscuits grant 50% of their health and mana immediately and grant you increased movement speed.