Runes Reimagined : What if runes only gave stats?
https://image.ibb.co/kRAphe/stats.jpg
Since the pre-season, i had a strong belief that the new runes would bring balance issues to the game, including - but not only - damage creep agravation. Why?
The problem of putting accessible power behind gimmicks in a game with such big roaster of characters is that eventually, a tier list will spawn: characters who can abuse those gimmicks better end up becoming stronger than the ones who didn't have a good luck in terms of their kit matching the gimmick's mechanic. It is always unbalanced: either the effect is worth the gimmick and end up dictating the meta or the character; or the effect is worthless and has almost no impact whatsoever.
I believe that all mechanics - such as hit 3 AA's, hit 3 unique spells, stay on combat for x seconds, attack after casting a spell, etc - should only belong to champions's kit, never somewhere else. This would avoid many, many balance issues (snowball multipliers such as Legend runes). I lost the count of how many times Riot balanced champions around their runes and masteries. It's a snowball of mistakes: you make a wrong change, within a wrong context, based on a problematic mechanic.
I understand Riot's wish to make the pre-game exciting, but that might cost the fun of the game it self. Honestly, i don't think Electrocute, Kleptomancy or Conqueror will ever be true balanced. There'll be always a champion who can use a keystone/rune better than others, which will cause a situation where Riot needs to choose between:
-
Nerf the champion and let the rune as it is so others can use it, balancing champions around runes, which causes the meta to be problematic and volatile;
-
Nerf the rune and Low-nerf all champions who might wanna use it, while solving nothing, as the best abuser will still continue to abuse the rune.
My suggestion is somewhat inspired in the old rune system: Runes would only give you stats. You would be able to freely choose those stats, and each one would belong to an specific path that we can name and theme-up as the current rune paths:
Precision: [Examples]
Agility Rune: [Level 1] +% Attack Speed / [Level 2] ++% Attack Speed / [Level 3] +++% Attack Speed Vampiric Rune: [Level 1] +% Lifesteal / [Level 2] ++% Lifesteal / [Level 3] +++% Lifesteal
.
Domination:
Brutality Rune: [Level 1] + Lethalithy/Magic P. (adaptative) / [Level 2] ++ Lethalithy/Magic P. (adaptative) / [Level 3] +++ Lethalithy/Magic P. (adaptative) Relentless Rune: [Level 1] + out of combat MS / [Level 2] ++ out of combat MS / [Level 3] +++ out of combat MS
.
Resolve:
Toughness Rune: [Level 1] + Armor&MR / [Level 2] ++ Armor&MR / [Level 3] +++ Armor&MR Gigantic Rune: [Level 1] + Health / [Level 2] ++ Health / [Level 3] +++ Health
.
etc etc etc
Of course, it would be based on a point system where you have a limited amount of choices. These free stats are more boring, less cool and exciting than the flashy runes we have? Yes. But they also make the game more balanced, thus, more fun; they also are way easier to balance; and they allow you to focus more on your champion's mechanic too.
