ARAM Rune Thoughts/Guide (Warning Pretty Long)

Hi all and welcome to my first super long boards post As someone who plays ARAM quite frequently, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the new runes for the Howling Abyss. Why should you care about what this unranked player has to say you might ask? Well, before preseason I had a decent win rate on ARAM, 60 or so more wins than losses over my league career (obviously this isn’t outstanding but for a random mode I don’t think its terrible) and since preseason began my win rate has gone up to around 90 or more wins than losses. While I could just be getting lucky with what champions I have been getting, I think it’s more a result of what runes I have been using.

Picking Runes on ARAM comes with some differences compared to Summoners Rift. First: You have no idea what champions are on the other team when you are picking your runes. This removes some ability to pick out situational runes. You can only choose runes that will be synergetic with your own champion and your teams champions. Second: There is no lane phase. It’s all team fighting so lane specific runes are not great.

*First I will rank the keystones and give my opinion on them and then I’ll go tree by tree and give my opinions on the minor runes. I’ll also throw a TLDR down at the bottom as well as some additional notes/musings about ARAM.

Keystones:

S tier: Dark Harvest: Simply put, Dark Harvest is insane on ARAM. It stacks incredibly quickly with the constant fighting as well as with the cannon minions and the super minions. The number of stacks you get in a game can range from between 250-500+ stacks. In an average game I tend to get end with 5000 damage dealt from dark harvest alone and the highest I’ve seen just while glancing through my match history was around 7500 damage. In my opinion, Dark Harvest should be taken on assassins, divers, juggernauts, some marksmen ... lets just say that as long as you can proc it, it will never be a terrible option and quite frequently it will probably be your best option.

Aftershock: While Dark Harvest is perfect for champs who want to do damage, it doesn’t do a ton for tanks (though if the game goes super long, tanks with Dark Harvest will still do respectable damage) but that is where Aftershock comes in. It gives you flat and percentage resistances AND does damage based on your health in an AOE. This is the go to keystone for anyone who is going full tank or even off tank and wants to survive a bit longer and add some damage, as long as you have some sort of hard CC that is. While it does have a decent cooldown, the benefits Aftershock gives you heavily outweigh this.

A Tier: Lethal Tempo: Quite good on many marksman who rely on attack speed heavily (see: Kog, Twitch, Kayle, etc.) The only downside is that with the constant trading on ARAM it might end up being on cooldown when you really need it for a teamfight.

Comet/Aery: I’m combining both of these because they are similar and honestly can be used fairly interchangeably. Take one of these if you are a: long range mage, spell-casting marksman (Jhin, Varus) or a poke support. With the Aery nerfs, take it if you have shielding or really want the guaranteed hits. Take comet if you have CC on your spells/lack any shielding. I will note that even if you don’t have CC on your spells, comet will still generally do more damage now. Howling Abyss is such a tight map even if you miss the primary target with the comet, you will most likely hit someone else.

B Tier: Press the Attack: I was flip-flopping between A and B tier but because you need to land 3 consecutive attacks on a single champion and since people die so quickly on ARAM, its really only good for tank busting. After 3 attacks any squishy will probably be dead already. In my experience it generally results in a low amount of additional damage over the course of the game, somewhere between 1-2 thousand. I’ll generally take this on very long range marksman (trist, cait, etc.) who will have a difficult time running up to collect Dark Harvest stacks without dying.

Phase Rush: Are you terrified of being run down by a tank? Do you really, really need to catch people and you are normally super slow and kite-able? Are you a juggernaut that can hit enemies 3 times quickly? Take phase rush (unless you are Garen, then take Dark Harvest and Dusk Blade and make people cry). There are probably better options but I haven’t played enough juggernauts since preseason started to know. I used Phase Rush with Darius it seemed to work well enough.

C Tier / Somewhat situational but you are almost always better off taking something else Tier: Fleet Footwork: You’d think healing on ARAM would be super nice but since the majority of people who would take this will generally buy lifesteal anyway, its not as helpful as you’d believe. It doesn’t help Fleet Footwork’s case that the AD starter item already has 10% lifesteal on it. That being said, I took it on Yasuo who never really does well on ARAM and it worked out okay and didn’t feel bad to use.

Predator: Situationally okay on certain champs (see: Hecarim). You are usually better suited with something else on ARAM even with the champs it has the best synergy with. I will say though, I have had a ton of fun playing Righteous Glory, Predator Blitzcrank. Overall, Predator isnt a great choice but it’s a fun choice when you want to run people down.

Guardian: While the shield and movement speed are great if there is a single carry on your team you want to protect, the cooldown is so long that with the constant trading on ARAM it is very rarely available when you need it to be.

Unsealed Spellbook: Just save yourself the trouble and don’t take this. The only reason its not in the worst tier is because I was able to theorycraft two situations where it might be vaguely useful First: You are a poke champ and want to take Clarity early and then switch it once you have mana items. Second: You are a full squish team and want the ability to switch to Exhaust in case they have someone who can rip through your team (Yi for example). In both cases, you are still probably better off taking a different keystone.

Kleptomancy: If you can proc it frequently its great, if you can’t its garbage. Luckily with the frequent trading on ARAM most auto attackers will proc it at a decent rate. The problem here is that even its best users/abusers (Ezreal, GP) have better options on ARAM (See: Dark Harvest. Trust me, try Dark Harvest Ezreal)

Just don’t take these tier: Electrocute: With its massive cooldown for a game mode where you are constantly fighting and its 3 hit requirement (the person will generally be dead before it even procs) Electrocute is outclassed by Dark Harvest in every way possibly on ARAM. It also doesn’t help that by the end of the game you will have so many Dark Harvest stacks that it will do more damage than Electrocute as well. MAYBE you want it on a burst mage MAYBE, but with the constant trading Comet/Aery will be better.

Grasp of the Undying: Not super helpful in anyway honestly, It adds a little more damage and it gives you a slight heal but you are going to want Aftershock or Guardian 99% of the time. With how short the games are, you wont stack it enough for the extra HP to be relevant either.

Glacial Augment: The Howling Abyss is such close quarters that the minor slow you get from this keystone will not make much of a difference between catching someone/kiting someone and not. I can see it being slightly useful if you somehow get a team without any CC at all but at that point you probably already lost and Glacial Augment is not going to save you.

Minor Runes:

Precision:

1st Tier: Triumph >>>>>>>>>> Presence of Mind > Overheal Overheal isn’t great and Presence of Mind is situationally good (Kassadin ulting everywhere) but Triumph is insane. It’s insane on Summoner’s Rift, now just imagine it with constant teamfights and people always dying around you. You regain so much health over the course of the match its crazy. I almost always take Precision as my secondary tree if I’m able to just to take Triumph. This is the best minor rune in the game hands down.

2nd Tier: Bloodline = Alacrity > Tenacity If you really, really want tenacity, go for it but I’ve just found that it doesn’t beat the free life steal or attack speed. Not a bad choice if you splash this tree as a tank or juggernaut I suppose

3rd Tier: Coup de Grace = Cut Down > Last Stand Take Coup de Grace if you have an above average amount of health or Cut Down if you are squishy unless you are Tryndamere or Karthus. In that case, Last Stand is your rune (I will say, I don’t know if it works with Karthus during his passive. I assume it does which is why I listed him, but I am not sure).

When I use Precision as a secondary tree I’ll generally go Triumph and either Coup de Grace or Cut Down (whichever is more relevant for the champion I’m playing) unless I really, really want that free lifesteal.

Domination:

1st Tier: Sudden Impact > Cheap Shot > Taste of Blood Free penetration is just better than the small amount of true damage you get from Cheap Shot or the small amount of healing from Taste of Blood. I prefer Cheap Shot over Taste of Blood as a personal preference just because the healing from Taste of Blood is just so minor and a little true damage is always helpful.

2nd Tier: Eyeball Collection >>>>>>>>>>> Ghost Poro >>>> Zombie Ward Eyeball Collection is the only one that is useful on ARAM. If you really really want Ghost Poro, go for it I guess. The very minor amount of vision isn’t going to help much and the poros cleared easily. Zombie Ward you actually can’t use on ARAM so....

3rd Tier: Ravenous Hunter > Ingenious Hunter > Relentless Hunter All of the Hunter runes stack super quickly on ARAM so none of them are terrible options. Since movement speed is generally not the most important stat on ARAM (no rotations between lanes) Relentless isn’t super helpful (unless you are a certain pony). If you plan on buying multiple active items go Ingenious, If you don’t plan on buying active items, go Ravenous, spell vamp is always nice.

When I use Domination as a secondary tree, I generally go Sudden Impact and Ravenous Hunter unless the champion I’m playing doesn’t have a mobility spell and then I will substitute Sudden Impact for Eyeball Collection.

Sorcery:

1st Tier: Ultimate Hat > Manaflow Band > Nullifying Orb While everything at this tier has its uses, I do believe Ultimate Hat to be all around the best. Nullifying Orb has too long a cooldown and too weak a shield for how often fighting happens and Manaflow Band is really only useful for the first life or two until you get your mana items. Ultimate Hat is useful for the entire game post level 6 as long as you are not a form shifting champion who can’t use it.

2nd Tier: Transcendence = Celerity = Absolute Focus Any of these options are great and they are all situational. If you are a long range mage who won’t take much poke damage or you have a strong frontline to protect you, take Absolute Focus. If you need extra CDR and you don’t plan on capping out from items, take Transcendence. If you are Hecarim or another champion who likes movement speed such as Blitzcrank, take Celerity.

3rd Tier: Scorch >>>> Gathering Storm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Waterwalking While the 2nd tier for Sorcery were all great options, the 3rd Tier has all mediocre options. Scorch’s cooldown is long for not much damage, games don’t go long enough for Gathering Storm and Waterwalking is completely unusable. Pick your poison.

When I use Sorcery as a secondary tree, I generally will go Ultimate Hat and whatever I need from the second Tier unless I cannot use Ultimate Hat, in which case ill take Manaflow Band.

Resolve:

1st Tier: Demolish = Font of Life > Unflinching If you have CC and marksman on your team use Font of Life otherwise, use Demolish. I’m personally not a big fan of Unflinching but I can see its potential uses with juggernauts specifically since Flash has a lower cooldown on ARAM and snowball would have good synergy with Unflinching as well.

2nd Tier: Conditioning >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Iron Skin = Mirror Shell Like Aftershock, increasing both armor and magic resist is wonderful, especially on ARAM when you don’t know what champs will be on the other team. Iron Skin and Mirror Shell on the other hand are not very good because you can’t plan which to take based on the enemy team ahead of time.

3rd Tier: Second Wind > Revitalize > Overgrowth If you have shields or healing take Revitalize otherwise take Second Wind. With all the poking on ARAM, Second Wind sustain is very nice. Games don’t go long enough on ARAM for overgrowth to be relevant.

When I use Resolve as a secondary tree, I generally will go Conditioning and Font of Life if there is a marksman on my team. If there is no marksman, I will generally go Conditioning and Second Wind or Revitalize depending on which is more relevant for the champion I’m playing.

Inspiration:

1st Tier: Biscuit Delivery = Commencing Stopwatch >>>>>>>> Hextech Flashtraption Both Biscuit Delivery and Commencing Stopwatch are really good on ARAM. The mana sustain from Biscuits on ARAM when you can’t back at will is quite helpful. A free Stopwatch to speed up your Zhonya’s purchase is also very nice. Just remember there is no GA on ARAM so the Stopwatch is only good for Zhonya’s and Stoneplate. Also, with no walls to flash over Flashtraption is useless outside of the occasional Alistar bush tactics.

2nd Tier: Future’s Market > Magical Footwear >>>>>>>>>> Minion Dematerializer While getting free boots is nice, I had to rate Future Market higher. 10 minutes is very long time on ARAM and you will most likely want boots before then. Also without the ability to go to base to buy at will, Futures Market debt system is even more helpful than on the Rift. Minion Dematerializer is pretty bad. With 5 people in a lane at a time you really shouldn’t need to rely on one person’s wave clear. I guess it would probably be helpful if you use all 6 on super minions but at that point you are banking on your own team losing to get use out of the rune. That’s not a great thing to plan on.

3rd Tier: Cosmic Insight > Approach Velocity >>>>>>>>>>> Celestial Body CDR CDR CDR CDR, get all the CDR. Cooldown Reduction is never a bad thing to have. Approach Velocity is helpful to get back into the fight after you die but with its relatively short range and the requirement of an ally to be CC’d or you to CC an enemy, its use is fairly limited. It’s nice on Aurelion Sol and Hecarim though I suppose. Celestial Body is pretty bad on ARAM honestly. 100HP is nice but you lose 10% damage for the first 10 minutes. Most ARAMs will be pretty much decided within the first 10 minutes so I don’t think it’s a great trade.

Random Musings/Notes: My base page for most champions is Dark Harvest, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Ravenous Hunter from Domination with Triumph and Cut Down from Precision. Obviously I swap out runes that won’t work for other ones if need be.

If anyone is wondering, no I don’t have an “ARAM-only smurf” account. I play and buy champs I find fun. I don’t own Lux, Maokai, Xerath, Nidalee, Zyra or many of the other super op ARAM champs. People who make accounts that only have the top tier ARAM champs are awful and ruin the game mode. If Riot ever changes ARAM to use the entire champion pool it would be wonderful.

I don’t care what the win rate websites say, Kayn is insane on ARAM. Go Black Cleaver -> Dusk Blade -> appropriate tank items for that game. Use Dark Harvest and choose Rhaast when you can. You do crazy damage while being super tanky and providing CC.

Does anyone know if Kalista’s hopping procs Sudden Impact? I’m curious.

Ekko for some reason has a second recommended item page for ARAM. It seems like a tutorial page that shows a new player how to buy components to build into a full item. I haven’t seen this on other champions but it shows up every time on Ekko.

While I know Riot doesn't like balancing specifically for ARAM, Dark Harvest and Triumph I think are both going to need to have specific ARAM nerfs at some point in time (Triumph on Summoners Rift as well). Both of these runes are actually insane and are going to start warping games quite significantly once people realize how powerful they really are.

Obviously, results may vary. Not trying to say I know everything about the state of ARAM currently, these are just my experiences and opinions. So let me know what you all think as well.

TLDR: Dark Harvest and Aftershock are clearly the best keystones and you should take them if they work on your champion. Its almost always a good idea to at least go down the Precision tree as your secondary tree just for Triumph