Runes in League of Legends are customizable pre-game loadouts that give your champion passive effects, stat boosts, and special abilities. Chosen during champion select, they fundamentally shape your playstyle and strategy for a specific match.
What Exactly Are Runes?
Unlike items, runes do not need to be activated during a match; their effects are always present. These effects can include extra damage, healing, movement speed, or increased durability.
Choosing the right rune page is a core part of the game’s strategy, as it can significantly impact lane matchups, enable powerful combos, and help you adapt to the enemy team’s composition.
The Five Rune Paths
The rune system is built around five distinct paths, each catering to a different style of play:
- Precision: Focuses on sustained damage and attack speed, typically used by marksmen and fighters. Key runes include Press the Attack and Conqueror.
- Domination: Geared towards burst damage and assassination, favored by assassins and junglers. Notable keystones are Electrocute and Dark Harvest.
- Sorcery: Enhances ability power, poke, and scaling, popular with mages and long-range champions. This path features Summon Aery and Arcane Comet.
- Resolve: Provides durability, crowd control, and tankiness, essential for tanks and supports. Important keystones are Grasp of the Undying and Guardian.
- Inspiration: Offers utility, creativity, and unique effects, often chosen by supports and for off-meta builds. Glacial Augment and First Strike are key examples.
How to Build a Rune Page
Building a rune page involves several steps:
- Choose a primary path: This determines your keystone and the three minor runes from that path.
- Select a secondary path: This allows you to pick two additional minor runes from any other path for added flexibility.
- Choose stat shards: These are minor, customizable stat boosts for offense, defense, and a flexible slot, such as bonus attack damage/ability power, attack speed, armor, or health.
Why Runes Matter
Choosing the correct runes can be the difference between winning and losing. They can help you dominate your lane, survive against high-damage opponents, or become a powerhouse in the late game.
The rune system is also regularly updated and reworked by Riot Games, ensuring the game’s meta remains fresh and dynamic. For new players, Riot provides preset rune pages, while advanced players can create custom pages tailored to specific matchups.
Written by:
Christian