Is Hail of Blades a Noob Trap?
Hello there. As all of you are aware, recently a new Keystone rune has been put into the game in the Domination path (Refer to Patch 8.11 - https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-811-notes#patch-runes). And so far I haven't really heard much about it. The rune seems cool. The name sounds cool. But the question is "Is Hail of Blades a Noob Trap?".
What is a "Noob Trap"? In gaming terms, this is something within a game that seems/looks cool to use, but in reality, it is absolutely worthless and baits "noobs" into using it.
Why do I consider Hail of Blades a "Noob Trap"? Hail of Blades is essentially a really dumb-downed version of Lethal Tempo that is made for more burst-oriented champions that relies on auto attacks/X on-hit procs. The problem I have with this particular Keystone rune is that the attack speed boost from it is rather clunky. It doesn't immediately go off when you try auto attacking an enemy champion. Rather it seems to only give you the boost once you're about half way finish with your 1st auto attack with the Keystone active upon an enemy champion. This really bugs me with champions that does have attack speed boosts and then it suddenly falls off once it wore off. As well as it being only for your first three auto attacks. Not to mention it is only active when you have time to prime it back off cooldown when you're out of combat for 5 seconds. The last detail about this that bugs me is that there is a condition that if you do not attack within the next 1.5 seconds during its activation, it will just go on cooldown.
Can Hail of Blades compete with the Keystone runes in its tree and other Keystone runes? Sadly, I really don't think it can. It is something left to be desired. Let's compare this to the residing Keystones in its tree. Let's say...Dark Harvest. Dark Harvest provides a way for potential damage that can be immediate. Compared to Hail of Blades, this provides extra damage on top of your already existing damage. As for Hail of Blades, this relies on only your existing damage and not to completely cower out of a fight when it activates.
The other problem is that most champions that is supposed to be catered by this are somewhat reliant on their abilities in their combos which makes it time out and go on cooldown.
Overall, I think Hail of Blades is what I consider a bad addition to the Runes especially in the Domination path. And is what I consider a Noob Trap.
Let me know what you think about this. Thanks for reading this small rant of mine. [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]
