Runes Corner: Domination Major Slot Sneak Peek

RiotSparkle·Jul 26, 2017·1 votes·104,280 views

Hi friends! Welcome to this week’s Rune Corner. I’m Riot Sparkle, Experience Designer on Runes Reforged and I’m here to be your rune guide for today. This week we’re gonna take a break from keystones (but we’ll be back soon with more!) to round out a complete set of runes from our Domination path.

**!!! WIP DISCLAIMER: **Please do remember that we’re still working on these runes, so names, icons, numbers and DEFINITELY in game VFX will change before these ship. That being said, if there’s anything you folks really like be sure to let us know! !!!

As you may remember from Riot Stashu’s post, Domination is a path focused on stalking prey and taking out targets quickly. The major rune slot in Domination focuses on that first part - tracking down your enemies.

We’ve already seen one rune from this slot in the past - Zombie Ward. First introduced by RiotWrekz, Zombie Ward is about turning an enemy’s safe zones against them.

**Zombie Ward **

http://i.imgur.com/waDKZk7.png

After killing an enemy ward, a friendly Zombie Ward is raised in its place. Zombie Wards are visible, last for 180 seconds and don’t count towards your ward limit.

http://i.imgur.com/tI3zre1.gifv

But what if you want an option that doesn’t require enemy actions to make use of? Or one that loves you? That’s where our next choice, Watchful Poro, comes in.

Watchful Poro

http://i.imgur.com/GD5n0T8.png

When you enter brush, a poro appears. It will stay behind to give you vision until an enemy champion scares it away or you enter a new brush.

http://i.imgur.com/s8dSP24.gifv

Sidenote: You may notice this poro is definitely not a poro. This is what I mean with the temporary VFX - sometimes you need to use your imagination a little! We’ll be getting this little guy a proper model and icon soon.

We’ve seen Watchful Poro used for all kinds of interesting scenarios - personal protection against ganks, pointing out areas with wards for teammates or even deep warding early with some careful pathing.

So at this point you may be thinking to yourself, what if I want to stalk my prey WITHOUT having to manage extra thingies in my game? Well, there’s an option for that too - Trophy Collector.

Trophy Collector

http://i.imgur.com/uwGjaZg.png

Gain +1 Ability Power or +.7 Attack Damage (Adaptive) when you or a nearby ally kill an enemy champion or an enemy ward.

Trophy Collector still touches on the core fantasy and gameplay of stalking prey, but instead of focusing on the set up it’s more concerned with the payoff. This rune is more unreliable compared to its neighbors but can offer more direct power as well, similar to other aggressive gambits like the Bloodlust rune in Precision.

So that’s all three runes in this slot! Remember, the way the new runes work means that you can only ever have one of these in your page at a time - they’re mutually exclusive.

Really excited to read your thoughts and reactions for these runes! We’ll be hanging around in the comments section for a while to answer questions and, if we’re very lucky, maybe even meme.

You can check the previous Runes Corner posts here: Runes Corner: Runes Content Development Peek Runes Corner: Meteor Sneak Peek Runes Corner: Hunt of the Bloodmoon Sneak Peek

210 Comments

Solari FortuneJul 26, 201787 votes

If Braum uses the poro mastery it better have a mustache

Mortis TyrannusJul 26, 201725 votes

I KNOW HER! I KNOW HEEEEEEEEEEER*[slayer-pantheon-rainbows]*

RiotSparkleJul 27, 201732 votes

Hi Jake. :P This is my idiot brother whom I love very much.

LostFr0stJul 27, 201714 votes

^This is adorable.

fatefuldeathJul 26, 20178 votes

Lets say I have the Astronaut Poro Summoner Icon equipped while using the Watchful Poro rune, will the poro left behind by the rune be an Astronaut poro or a regular poro?

ModThe DjinnJul 27, 20178 votes

So -- good things first. The Poro and the Zombie Ward are awesome, and I'm already thinking of fun ways to use the Poro to counterjungle hilariously. Love those.

That said...

...does Trophy Hunter seem unimpactful to anyone else?

The others (and almost all the Runes previewed) are really cool, exciting features that can change the way you approach a game. Trophy Hunter, meanwhile, provides less interactive, less visible power that's specifically tied to killing champions or wards.

I can see this getting to +20 or +30 in a game, which is nice, but doesn't feel like the big impact of the other ones. Sure, ever now and then you'll get up to something like +50, but it just doesn't feel as cool as the other runes.

Was there any consideration to adding another mechanical hook to this to increase player satisfaction? Getting +1 AP or +0.7 AD is almost unnoticeable, which seems like it creates a boost in power that's all but invisible to the player in question over the course of a game.

Apex SupportJul 27, 20175 votes

Getting your trinkets cooldown reduced by 1 second permanently our something like that would be quite nice ^^

linkblade91Jul 26, 20177 votes

Can we influence what the poro looks like with our icon, a la Poro King? Please say yes :D

{quoted}

If Braum uses the poro mastery it better have a mustache

This too!

HolmatJul 26, 20177 votes

Does "Zombie Ward" apply to ward assists? I don't want it to be terrible in solo q just because people don't let the right person kill the ward.

Also, how does "Watchful Poro" work with Ivern's W? Will it stay after the brush is gone?

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201719 votes

Yes, it applies to ward assists. I gotchu soloQ.
Honestly, I'm not 100% sure how it works with Ivern bushes. I think the intended behavior would be that the poro runs away when the brush de-spawns but I'll need to check so don't take my word for it.

The Butt FairyJul 27, 201718 votes

I'm fully expect some spaghetti to manifest on that one, like Ivern Bush goes away and the poro spawns a Modekaiser ghost of Dragon in its place, but unless Morde is in the game no one can control it.

RiotSparkleJul 27, 201714 votes

{quoted}

I'm fully expect some spaghetti to manifest on that one, like Ivern Bush goes away and the poro spawns a Modekaiser ghost of Dragon in its place, but unless Morde is in the game no one can control it.

@_@

kickxterJul 26, 20176 votes

YAY wards :D thanks for the cool insight into some supporty runes [slayer-jinx-wink]

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201715 votes

{quoted}

YAY wards :D thanks for the cool insight into some supporty runes [slayer-jinx-wink]

Hi I'm Sparkle and I play support and bot. :D

kickxterJul 26, 20176 votes

Hi Sparkle, are we best friends now? Pretty sure that's how that works.

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201710 votes

{quoted}

Hi Sparkle, are we best friends now? Pretty sure that's how that works.

We gotta stick together

Hungry CancerJul 26, 20174 votes

I really don't know how I feel about the Domination path getting the badass vision runes. As a support main who typically has a Vision Score over 60, unless it's a short game, I was really excited about the zombie ward rune; I am the one that does most of the warding and clearing on my team as the support after all; I've been asking for the Zombie Ward since Taliyah's PBE reveal, so I was stoked, but hearing it's gonna be a Major Rune in the Domination path just kinda killed that excitement for me. I doubt Domination will be a viable path for supports, as it seems like a jungle focused path, so will we get other ward rune options in our tree? If not, please consider doing something vision oriented for supports, it's one of my favourite parts of the game and the support role in particular, I mostly play champs centered around vision and map control like Zyra and Bard and will be seriously disappointed if one of the few aspects of the game supports are allowed to excel at is left completely the same and is instead enhanced for carries; this would be a perfect time to expand on vision control and make it more fun and dynamic for support players and carries. I'm excited at the prospect of carries doing more warding though, so thank you for that. If nothing else would you consider a minor rune for supports that doubles your AS when clearing runes? It will still hurt my soul not getting the poro or zombie ward as the support, but some minor vision love would still be nice.

RiotSparkleJul 26, 20176 votes

So a few points here.

Domination is very much a viable path for supports (and junglers, and mid laners etc.). We don't think of or design paths for positions like you're suggesting.
It's important to remember that if you take Domination as a primary OR a secondary path you get access to these runes. So for instance, you could take something like Meteor keystone in the Sorcery path for your keystone on Brand or Zyra but also still take these runes as well. :)

Hungry CancerJul 26, 20172 votes

Awesome, thank you for that. I was under the impression we only got a major rune from the primary path and two minors from secondary, thank you very much for clarifying. When can we expect to see more of the Precision and Inspiration paths?

You mentioned Zyra and she's my main so my most important question is: Does she have multiple viable builds and playstyles with the new system or will she pretty much be limited to one keystone/path/style again? That's all I really care about, if she's in a good place and not limited to boring ass T-Lords or Deathfire (which play the exact same way) again I'll be the happiest of campers. lol I just want impactful choices for my girl. lol

Thanks again Sparkle

DeathBurstJul 26, 20174 votes

From what we know as of today, Runes work like that:

Primary Path:
- Keystone
- Greater Rune
- Minor Rune 1
- Minor Rune 2
Secondary Path:
- Rune 1
- Rune 2

A few important notes:

You do have to choose a secondary path, and both your secondary runes must come from the same path.
You can choose a Greater Rune in your secondary path. In fact, another Red comment was saying they are currently considering removing the distinction between Greater and Minor entirely.

RiotSparkleJul 27, 20173 votes

{quoted}

From what we know as of today, Runes work like that:

Primary Path:

Keystone

Greater Rune

Minor Rune 1

Minor Rune 2

Secondary Path:

Rune 1

Rune 2

A few important notes:

You do have to choose a secondary path, and both your secondary runes must come from the same path.

You can choose a Greater Rune in your secondary path. In fact, another Red comment was saying they are currently considering removing the distinction between Greater and Minor entirely.

This is a great summary.

EeyoreJul 26, 20173 votes

These don't sound like Domination runes. Especially since I'm pretty certain Zombie Ward was announced as an Inspiration Rune way back when. You sure these aren't all support runes?

RiotSparkleJul 26, 20177 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Empty Lord,realm=EUW,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=9ls3OEo8,comment-id=0012,timestamp=2017-07-26T20:49:51.912+0000)

These don't sound like Domination runes. Especially since I'm pretty certain Zombie Ward was announced as an Inspiration Rune way back when. You sure these aren't all support runes?

Yep! These are definitely Domination runes. Again, the "hunting" part of Domination is important for this path as well. That doesn't mean you're not allowed to use them as a support though - we've seen plenty of viable builds for supports with a Domination primary or Domination secondary path.

Arc AtlasJul 26, 20172 votes

I second what the other guy said, none of these truly sound like they should be apart of the domination tree. I think damage, speed, abilities, but all of what we saw seems more like support stuff. Zombie ward, Poro ward thing. The last one is alright, it actually makes me think of Veigar since he already gains a shit load of ap for getting kills/assists

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201710 votes

[{quoted}](name=Arc Atlas,realm=NA,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=9ls3OEo8,comment-id=001200000000,timestamp=2017-07-26T22:29:54.736+0000)

I second what the other guy said, none of these truly sound like they should be apart of the domination tree. I think damage, speed, abilities, but all of what we saw seems more like support stuff. Zombie ward, Poro ward thing. The last one is alright, it actually makes me think of Veigar since he already gains a shit load of ap for getting kills/assists

Maybe I should make a copy pasta for this - when we talk about something like Domination and say "This path is about hunting targets, burst damage and snowballing" that can apply to a range of subclasses or positions. There's more to reveal in Domination around burst and snowballing, for sure, but I'd caution against thinking that this set is only "support stuff".

We consider Zombie Ward, Poro and Trophy Hunter to very much fall under the umbrella of Dominations "hunting" tools and have seen them used in a variety of positions.

meowwow7Jul 26, 20172 votes

for the trophy collecter is it going to have a cap in stats?

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201740 votes

{quoted}

for the trophy collecter is it going to have a cap in stats?

No cap, only dreams.

Apex SupportJul 26, 201712 votes

I'm gonna make a deal with the enemy support to trade wards over and over [zombie-nunu-hearts]

RiotSparkleJul 26, 20179 votes

{quoted}

I'm gonna make a deal with the enemy support to trade wards over and over [zombie-nunu-hearts]

Worth noting there are no infinite loops with Zombie Ward - after the first Zombie Ward, the ward will be put in the ground for good. :)

LemiusJul 26, 201710 votes

I do believe he was talking about the Trophy Collector Mr Sparkle Sir ^.~

RiotSparkleJul 26, 201720 votes

Ahhhhh, I see.

I feel as though that would result in a "curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal" moment at some point lol.

FedmahnJul 27, 20174 votes

Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!

BârdJul 26, 20177 votes

You are gonna kill Vandril one of these days, you know that?

iahim98Jul 26, 20172 votes

Can we get a buff icon for the trophy collector and the bounty hunter runes? With this kind of runes its nice to know how much we are getting on average in a game, or are you trying to avoid putting buff icons, especially on the smaller runes to avoid having to many icons?

RiotSparkleJul 27, 20176 votes

{quoted}

Can we get a buff icon for the trophy collector and the bounty hunter runes? With this kind of runes its nice to know how much we are getting on average in a game, or are you trying to avoid putting buff icons, especially on the smaller runes to avoid having to many icons?

Was considering doing a post about the UI that accompanies runes, but wasn't sure if enough players would be interested in that aspect.

But yes, we will be providing a way for you to track the runes you took during your game and get feedback on their effectiveness. We think it's important to support what we call the "feedback loop" for Runes Reforged (i.e you pick, you play, you see how they worked and then you possibly pick differently next time).

DeathBurstJul 27, 20174 votes

This is super important for learnability and experimentation, I'm very glad you took it into consideration. I don't know about "enough" players, but definitely count me interested.

Hyrum GraffJul 27, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Sparkle,realm=NA,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=9ls3OEo8,comment-id=00270001,timestamp=2017-07-27T01:32:07.624+0000)

Was considering doing a post about the UI that accompanies runes, but wasn't sure if enough players would be interested in that aspect.

I'm interested! Although, maybe I fall in the smaller subset :P

RiotSparkleJul 27, 20176 votes

I will do it then. Not sure when, but I'll definitely make a post about the UI for the new Runes. :)

Hyrum GraffJul 28, 20171 votes

Whoo!

Aside, If Nikki Galvan is still doing UX at Riot, say Hi for me. Discussions about Boards in the communityplatform chat room are still some of the highlights of my League-related experiences.

Also, something something next chapter of Gray Hope. Seems she's taken that offline, but she'll remember it.

RiotSparkleJul 29, 20174 votes

Riot Sweet is definitely still with us, kicking butt. :) I will let her know.

KawaiiShroomJul 26, 20171 votes

So is this like the keystone rune for that path?

PartybringerJul 26, 20171 votes

So is item 3711 going to be reworked? cause it seems like LeeSin and Jax are going to be the only ones that build it

UnderscorBunniesJul 26, 20176 votes

{quoted}

So is going to be reworked? cause it seems like and are going to be the only ones that build it

Hm? SoloQ or competitive? Because competitively pretty much every jungler, especially tanks, get tracker's knife. It's just that generally SoloQ players are more selfish and value the instant power payoff of the "battle smites"

La BelloJul 26, 20177 votes

{quoted}

So is going to be reworked? cause it seems like and are going to be the only ones that build it

there are tons of people who build that item in higher levels where vision is important.

LazyNovaJul 26, 20171 votes

So when you say that with the way the new runes work you can only every have one of these in your page at a time does that mean your secondary page can only ever have one major rune and one normal rune since all of the major runes in the secondary path are for the same slot? From the visuals showing normal or major in each slot I was thinking your secondary path might have allowed you to select two major runes.

RiotSparkleJul 26, 20174 votes

For secondary paths you may have 1 major and 1 minor, or 2 minors, yes.

We're actually still internally discussing removing the major vs. minor terminology (or greater vs. normal), since majors aren't guaranteed to actually be more powerful than minors necessarily. The only difference is that "majors" have visible effects in game, whereas "minors" do not (they can both be just as impactful in a game).

patmax17Jul 26, 20175 votes

If that's the only difference, then yes, drop the distinction. Can you equip two major runes somehow? If so, then the distinction isn't needed (though AFAICT you can only equip one major rune). But really, if the only distinction is "this is more noticeable than the other", and because of that property you can only equip one instead of two, then I would either change the criteria after which you define a rune major or minor, or would drop the distinction altogether :)

RiotSparkleJul 26, 20177 votes

That is good feedback and I think it's the direction we're headed but we're still discussing a bit. Someone (not gonna name names here :P) may have titled their Boards post badly in that regard.

If I'm being totally honest, we were worried that players would want really defined rules around which things would get in game VFX and which wouldn't (a shield, for instance, needs VFX to work for the opponent case but something like extra armor doesn't necessarily).

But we've found in testing that players actually care less about that (and can figure out the shield vs. armor example for themselves) and more about the distinction in power. If we call something a "major" rune, players expect it to be more powerful than a "minor". Thus, our naming has been slightly misleading in that regard. Also, sometimes SOME of the stuff needs VFX (Poro and Zombie) and other content...doesn't (Trophy) which adds to category confusion.

We'll probably talk more about this and answer more Qs in the future, but as of right now I actually expect that we'll drop the distinction going forward.

Would love additional feedback from a player perspective on that to help us though - have you folks following along been confused around our category names and what they mean at all?

Night 25Jul 27, 20174 votes

Maybe something like "Selective Runes" and "General Runes" instead of "Major" and "Minor" would sound better, if you keep the system as it is now By the way, i'm really looking forward to have a Rune system that supports different play styles, instead of something like searching "Urgot runes and masteries" on Google because there really is just one best option. I don't like feeling "forced" to make some very specific choices because there are no other ways to play the game (like any possible "On-hit" build always dealing less damage than pure Crit.) so i hope it's easier with Runes Reforged to choose my personal path that still feels powerful even when not being the most popular

RiotSparkleJul 27, 20175 votes

[{quoted}](name=Night 25,realm=EUW,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=9ls3OEo8,comment-id=00190000000000000003,timestamp=2017-07-27T00:48:17.579+0000)

Maybe something like "Selective Runes" and "General Runes" instead of "Major" and "Minor" would sound better, if you keep the system as it is now By the way, i'm really looking forward to have a Rune system that supports different play styles, instead of something like searching "Urgot runes and masteries" on Google because there really is just one best option. I don't like feeling "forced" to make some very specific choices because there are no other ways to play the game (like any possible "On-hit" build always dealing less damage than pure Crit.) so i hope it's easier with Runes Reforged to choose my personal path that still feels powerful even when not being the most popular

One thing we are trying to incorporate in that regard are slots where the "right" answer might depend on the game. For instance, we revealed a slot in Resolve where you could get defenses in the form of armor, MR or wait a while and then get both. Depending on the matchup you're in that "right" answer might change some of the time. Internally, we call these "reactive" choices and hope that they disrupt the "one true build" at least a little bit.