A basic guide on Rune pages for Dummies (please pin riot)
Note-This is a basic guide, for those unfamiliar with runes, this is no guide for people who already have a solid understanding on runes. Second Note-Meta shifts happen all the time, so the value in which runes are good and when also changes, this guide was submitted in 4/29/2016 based off what was good in this current meta.
So a lot of times I see people asking for rune page advice, when in reality it is a very simple answer that comes down to a few questions.
The Questions?
-How much IP do I have? -How much money do I have for RP? -What champions do I mostly play? [zombie-brand-mindblown] If you are a new player and just dipping your feet into the waters, unsure if you are going to be here for a long time, or hell maybe you don't have the best real life financial situation and can't afford rune pages. These are the two pages that work on ALL champions in ANY lane. [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]
The Two Starter Rune Pages (literally every veteran player in the game had to use these two pages religiously at one point)
Basic Ad X9 Attack Damage Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist Blues/Glyphs X9 Attack Damage Browns/Quints
Basic AP X9 Magic penetration Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist Blues/Glyphs X9 Ability Power Browns/Quints
super cheap, super easy to get, can be used on any champion, in any lane, if you find yourself in a financial situation where you can not buy multiple RP pages, or you aren't sure if you are gonna be on a league for a long time, these are the pages for you.
But what if I get more money PhanatosG2? Now you are ready to customize for match ups, once you reach 4 rune pages, you have 1 of two options.
A-Stay basic and get rune pages that can be used anywhere B-Customize them for lanes
Honestly my piece of advice is to stick to the motto "KISS" keep it simple stupid, so now I am going to show you what I call the basic match ups. Since the majority of players play either mid lane/top lane when they first start, I will stick to those rune pages for now, but for those rare little oysters who like playing bot lane, don't worry I will get to you in just a minute.
[slayer-jinx-catface]
FOR TOP LANE/MID LANE
AD vs AD AD vs AP AP vs AD Ap vs AP
AD vs AD X9 Armor Penetration reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Cooldown Reudction per level blues/Glyphs X9 Attack Damage Browns/Quints
AD vs AP X9 Armor Penetration reds/Marks X9 Health Per level Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist blues/Glyphs X9 Attack Damage Browns/Quints
Some Questions you may have?
Q- Why am I using Armor Pen over Damage? A-TLDR to keep it as simple as possible, they do more damage later into the game. To prove my point in why, I would need to get a calculator and show you some Math equations. So just take my word on this please.
Q- Why Cooldown Reduction when facing a AD mid laner? and why Scaling? A- It allows you to spam your skills more as the game goes on, and for the most part, if you are playing mid lane, you will rarely be buying CDR items, so having it in your rune page helps out a ton.
Q-Why Health per level yellows when facing magic champions? A-In the long term mathematical equation in how mages do damage, a fusion of health and MR is the most effective way to protect yourself
ONTO MAGIC USERS
AP vs AD X9 Magic penetration Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Scaling Ability Power Blues/Glyphs X9 Ability Power Browns/Quints
AP vs AP X9 Magic penetration Reds/Marks X9 Health Per Level Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist Blues/Glyphs X9 Ability Power Browns/Quints
Q-Why Scaling Ability power when facing ad champions? A- you are facing less mages, thus less need for defensive runes toward magic.
So for the most part these are the most effective mid lane, top lane runes when working with a budget on only 4 rune pages, however I did promise to help out those who like bot lane, so......
For Bot Lane
When you are playing as a marksman
Marksman defensive/standard
X9 Attack Damage Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist Blues/Glyphs X3 Attack speed Browns/Quints
A sustain approach X9 Attack Damage Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Magic Resist Blues/Glyphs X2 Attack speed Browns/Quints x1 Life Steal Brown/Quint
A Highly Offensive approach X9 Attack Damage Reds/Marks X9 Armor Yellows/Seals X9 Attack Speed Blues/Glyphs X3 Attack speed Browns/Quints
Q-Why go from damage browns to attack speed browns? A- To Avoid talking about math, it helps you trade better, auto easier, and farm better, you are a champion who is now reliant on auto attacks, not bursty skills
Q-What does the 1 life steal quint give me? A-While it scales poorly into the late game, during lane phase, if you feel you in a super hard match up, where you are going to eat a lot of poke, the life steal helps you use minions as health pots, so you aren't kicked out of lane
Q-How viable is the Offensive Page? A-Only use when you have no fear of the mages on the enemy team
Well this concludes my guide, I will probably make a jungle rune page guide and a Support rune page guide another time, if I do I will surely post and link it with this guide. Now to answer why I did not cover supports and junglers?
The long answer
These pages are heavily debated on what is best even among the best players in the world, feud/flame wars happen because of it, simply because the options are huge for these roles. However for Mid laners and Marksman the rune pages are pretty cut n dry, with very little room to debate. So with that reason it is much easier to make a guide for NEW players on what are good BASIC rune pages they can ALL use until they reach a more advanced level of play where customization is demanded.
I hope this helps, ta ta for now [slayer-jinx-wink]
@riot, hope this gets pinned to help out the new players