How will Riot avoid balancing champions around a specific keystone?

ToddlerPacifier·11/11/2017, 8:05:55 PM·163 votes·5,489 views

I'm sitting here thinking how amazing some runes are on certain champions. For example, Glacial Augment applies the melee slow on GP Q. When some options, such as Kleptomancy and Glacial Augment have special synergy with a champion like him, it's going to distort the landscape and make him much stronger when he chooses them over others. This will lead to nerfs and then he will be EVEN LESS capable of going alternative keystones since he was balanced around super synergistic runes. This cycle would defeat the entire "playstyle" concept of runes since you'd then need to go the 1-2 absolutely strongest for your champion or you are no longer playing a viable champion. How can this be avoided? This happened last season too with DFT and Fervor for example.

88 Comments

SirΤeemο11/11/2017, 8:07:05 PM89 votes

long story short : they won't .

wobaji11/11/2017, 8:11:14 PM39 votes

Perhaps they can remove some special champion synergies. For example, maybe Glacial Augment should work only on actual attacks and not abilities that apply on-hits such as Ezreal Q or GP Q. These synergies tend to make keystones too weak for everyone else in order to balance out the edge cases. This makes them excessively niche and champion dependent.

EternalSaiyan11/11/2017, 9:32:09 PM11 votes

Dude I swear Riot is now led by this guy Zed Gone are the days of Shen

notice me Sin pi11/11/2017, 8:43:26 PM10 votes

just remove the on-hit interaction for Gangplank Ezreal , that way their close ties to the keystones itself is removed. Besides, those interactions almost always had been very toxic in the previous seasons as well.

Subject 511/11/2017, 10:02:45 PM9 votes

The keystones feel like they are incredibly focused on the carry role, and not so much the other way around:

Want more damage? We got'chuh with 3 amazing new runes!

Want more tank! We got'chuh! Just sacrifice 10% of your early game damage that you never had in the first place as a tank, and then get an extra 1 - 1 - 1 - 100 HP! That's a 1 with 2 zeros behind it!

Don't you worry though, I know you tanks just LOVE protecting your adc - so we decided to make like the only tank rune that is actually good, the one that sucks off the adc!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77B-FO_fQms <------ Riot HQ

Here at Riot - we completely understand that every champion has hits people 3 exact times - so why not make a keystone that's fit for everybody?

Vladimir "But what ab-"

Shut the fuck up Vlad, we're talking about actual REAL champions here!

Nautilus "At least with second wind I can lane ag- . . . - . . ."

Vayne Quinn JarvanIV Jax Jayce Garen Darius Trundle Tryndamere Illaoi Irelia LeeSin Nasus "Lane against who, Nautilus? Lane against who?"

Nautilus ". . . Malphite . . ."

Feathermane11/11/2017, 9:41:18 PM7 votes

Riot is wrongheaded in this. This is how things were SUPPOSED TO GO: You have a certain playstyle - you select your runes/masteries to accomodate your playstyle. This is how things DO GO: You choose the most powerful runes/masteries, and adjust your playstyle to match. Runes of any kind seem to be a bad idea overall.

Resolution11/11/2017, 10:14:22 PM7 votes

Some keystones don't work on specific champions. For example, you can't get the boots keystone on Cass.

They already have a system in place to alter/disable interactions towards certain champions depending on how they interact with Champions. You most likely will see future "subtext" like half % on Gangpank for example. Where you can still run it but it won't proc as much.

VexingRaven11/12/2017, 1:23:58 AM7 votes

They will do what they have always done with problematic items and masteries: Nerf the champions that use them, while the people who play those champions scream how bad an idea that is.

PapaGreg2111/12/2017, 2:56:27 AM6 votes

I can answer that easily for you. Riot will nerf the champion and then the rune. Then they won't restore the champion. As a Shyvana main the last few years, this is known.

bàn11/12/2017, 6:36:29 PM6 votes

ditch the idea of gimmicky runes and masteries for season 9 and work on things like new maps, new items etc.

Quepha11/11/2017, 8:14:24 PM6 votes

They want champions to be better with some keystones than others, why would they not? The only way that every champion would get equal value out of every keystone is if every keystone was exactly the same.

Sona Ping11/11/2017, 8:16:46 PM5 votes

{quoted}

How will Riot avoid balancing champions around a specific keystone?

They can't. It's unavoidable. Unless all champions are made basically the same and have all real differences, all their beneficial strengths or attributes between them removed or made inconsequential, those difference will unavoidably lead to differences in outcomes when using other different options' strengths.

The only way would be to remove any real strategic diversity in those options. That's the only way you can make those options not matter more to one than another.