My idea for a rune rework.
https://lolstatic-a.akamaihd.net/game-info/1.1.9/images/content/gi-runes.jpg
So, there has been quite a bit of talk going around about a potential rune system revamp, of which Riot is supposedly working on. Despite this being a certainty, I figured, just for fun, I'd take a crack at developing my own revamped system.
Now, I'm not designing a completely new system. I'm not sure if Riot is doing this, but, in my opinion, the current rune system can simply be improved upon, instead of being rebuilt from the ground up. So, that's what I will be doing.
Here are some rules I laid out for this improved system:
1: No more tiers. Tiers of runes have been nothing but a new player trap, and a waste of IP. Why buy anything of a lesser value, when you'll eventually have the best at some point down the line?
2: Move from 9 marks/seals/glyphs to 10. Because.......even numbers are easy to work with.
3: Marks/seals/glyphs should be far more focused on certain aspects then they already are. No more armor marks, or attack damage glyphs. Also, marks/seals/glyphs will no longer scale. This will be reserved for Quints.
4: Quints will be completely redone.
- No longer just big stat buffers
- Instead, Quints will now be percentage amplifiers for marks/seals/quints
- Can still have 3 Quints, but only 1 of each can be equipped.
- No more useless stats such as "Less time spent dead"
So, with those laid out, allow me to show you what this system will look like.
#Marks
Marks will be the offensive runes, much like they are now. The stats these runes will give are:
- Attack Damage
- Ability Power
- Lethality
- Magic Penetration
- Crit chance
- Crit Damage
- Attack Speed
- Cooldown Reduction
You might be wondering "Wait, why CDR?". Well, think of CDR as Attack Speed for your abilities. Sure, there are plenty of defensive abilities in the game, but all of them are meant to give you an advantage over your opponent. Thus, I'm moving CDR into the Marks, and, it should make sense as to why when you see the rest of the system.
#Seals
Just like they are now, Seals will focus primarily on defense and sustain. They will give:
- Armor
- Magic Resist
- Health
- Health Regeneration
- Mana
- Mana Regeneration
- Lifesteal
- Spell vamp
Why mana, and mana regen? Well, it plays into the sustain portion of Seals. As stated above, there are plenty of defensive abilities in the game, and you need mana to sustain those spells. Makes sense, doesn't it?
As a side note, I'm sorry Energy users, but there will be no Energy runes. For this system, I will be counting you as "resourceless", even though managing Energy is a big part of champs who use those. That said, it's not like any of you bought energy runes anyway, so......yeah.
#Glyphs
Glyphs will be a bit different than they are now. As of right now, they are really only used for either Magic Resist, or Cooldown Reduction, with the rare occasion of being used for either AP or Magic Pen. As you may have noticed, all of those stats have been moved to either Marks or Seals, so, the Glyphs need something new to focus on. Since Quints will be very different, and alot of Utility provided by Quints will be lost, I figured that Glyphs would be perfect to take on this role. Glyphs in this system will provide:
- Movement Speed
- Tenacity
- Crowd Control Duration
- Vision Radius (this affects wards as well)
- Item Active/Passive Cooldown Reduction
- Summoner Spell Cooldown Reduction
- Healing Power (this includes self heals, like lifesteal/spell vamp)
- Shielding Power (this includes self shields, like Courage of the Colossus)
- Ability Range
- Gold Income
This will most likely be the most diverse set of runes, with every champion preferring something else over the other. For example, a champ like Warwick may really like those healing power runes, while someone like Irelia will run Tenacity. Morgana would go Crowd Control duration, and Annie would go for Summoner Spell CDR.
You might notice that there is Ability Range, but not Auto Attack range. The reason for this is that really only marksman will ever take those runes, and the debate over ranged vs melee has been going on for quite some time. Putting in Auto Attack range runes will only worsen the problem. So, they are left out. Gold income is there solely for supports, since it is a rune currently that they enjoy taking (at least I do).
#Quintessences
Quints will be the most unrecognizable out of this new system, for i am moving them away from being either utility focused, or just being more powerful cases of marks/seals/glyphs. Instead, they will amplify what is given to you by marks/seals/glyphs in several different ways. Also, unlike our current system, in this system, you can only equip one of each Quint, and each Quint you equip will amplify the set of runes it is paired with.
Sound confusing? Don't worry, I'll explain more once I list off the different Quints there are.
- Flat Percentage Increase
- Scaling Percentage Increase (they get better throughout the game)
- Able to equip more than 10 runes
- Each rune gives a small bonus stat from every other rune equipped
- Can only equip 5 runes, but the stats given by the runes are dramatically increased
- Can equip 2 runes from a different set (i.e.: You can put 2 Seals in the Marks section)
#Examples
To properly showcase how this system will work, I will give you a few examples as to how a rune page might look like. To start things off, I'll build a page for my favorite champ at the moment, Sivir.
Just to clarify, I will not be showcasing any numbers. That takes alot of time and testing, and since this is only a concept, there is no need to add in numbers unless it was actually implemented into the game.
For Sivir, I suppose the page would look a little like this:
Marks: 5 AD, 5 AS (Equipped Quint: Flat Percent Increase)
Seals: 4 Armor, 4 Magic Resist, 2 Lifesteal (Equipped Quint: Scaling Percent Increase)
Glyphs: 4 MS, 4 Tenacity, 2 AD (Equipped Quint: 2 Runes from another set)
But, of course, this would be my page. If the numbers are well balanced, then this system allows for quite a bit of diversity. I like staying alive, so, for my Seals, I went a bit a defensive. But, a more aggressive player may go for Health and Mana regen.
However, Sivir isn't the only champ in the game. Lets look at a possible page for, lets say Gangplank.
Marks: 3 AD, 3 CDR, 2 Lethality, 2 Crit Damage (Equipped Quint: Stats from every other Rune)
Seals: 4 Armor, 4 Magic Resist, 2 Health (Equipped Quint: Scaling Percent Increase)
Glyphs: 5 Healing Power, 3 Summoner CDR, 2 Ability Range (Equipped Quint: Flat Percent Increase)
Now, I'm no Tobias Fate, and I don't know GP that well, so, this was just a guess. As stated earlier, if the numbers are balanced well, then something this crazy can be built, and will be effective.
The whole point of this Rune rework of mine is to give a lot more power into your hands, and supporting your kind of playstyle. Of course, this all depends on numbers, and, even if the numbers are perfectly balanced, every champ may have a certain page that they prefer, which, I feel is unavoidable. But, unlike the current system, where you are actually hindering yourself if you don't have the right runes, hopefully this system will allow for some diversity, like, a bit more mana regen for one player over the other, or maybe a bit more gold for the certain support player.
If you happened to read until the end, I thank you for that. Let me know what you think!
TL;DR I reworked runes! Sorry, but I can't give a recap of what I just wrote without writing the whole thing over again!
EDIT: I first thought this would belong in Concepts and Creations, but, apparently, the mods thought otherwise. So, here it is in Gameplay.
