Riot Blaustoise on Damage (In which they actually talk about it.)

• Actually more damage and how much - we don't know to what extent it's actually true. I think everyone's hunch is correct that we're dealing more damage/we're squishier now, it's just to what degree. Something one of our analysts u/RiotBenobo might look into this week. We could look at things like game bloodiness (kills per game, when they occur, etc.), TTK (time to kill) especially at early levels, stuff like that.

• Choice in old vs new runes - There are still defensive options in the rune system, it's just that now we have a lot of options that can also be optimal so we shy away from defensive ones. Splashing resolve secondary with bone-plating/chrysalis is kind of like your health/armor yellows and MR blues, but instead of being basically the only choice I think it's just a choice now. And frankly with a lot of champs we're more enticed by the spicy damage choices or other unique effects splash precision, dom, sorcercy, etc.

That being said I think we still have a more offense-focused system than previously, and the defensive choices we give you aren't 100% go-to optimized like they were in the old system.

• Pros vs Cons of higher lethality - I think in some cases the offense-focused new rune system may make some interactions and gameplay feel worse, but could improve it in other areas. I think this post only frames the cons of the current "high lethality" gameplay (if it really is even that high) without addressing some of the pros.