Rune System Analysis and Revamp

It's no secret that the rune system essentially provides champions with basic stat increases. Currently, there are two types of runes: flat stats, which are geared toward the early stages of the game (laning phase); and scaling stats, which are geared toward the late stages of the game (usually surpassing their flat-stat counterparts around level 9-12).

For those who haven't been around since the beginning, let me recap some aspects of the current rune system - some of these features have been removed for being outdated:

1. There are 3 tiers of runes, with corresponding tiers of strength and prices.
2. There was a rune combiner, which allowed players to combine their lower-tier runes into one random rune of the next tier.
3. There are 9 rune slots for each basic type, and 3 slots for the Quintessences. Each slot requires the player to reach a certain summoner level to gain access to it.
4. Each rune type specializes in certain stats, but the other types can also provide those stats at a weaker value.

The rune system was originally designed to allow players to customize their champions' stats to a degree in order to suit their playstyle and builds. This is still somewhat true today. However, when the system was created, there was a much larger pool of champions capable of using viable hybrid or offbeat playstyles. Now, many existing champions (and virtually all newly released champions) have been changed to favor only 1-2 viable playstyles/builds. This results in many of their respective rune choices to have a best case combination that only changes with nerfs/buffs to the champion. This in turn creates a false sense of control over the rune system, and a steeper learning curve for new players.

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THE GOOD:

1. Players can buy runes of whatever tier they can afford for the stats they desire, resulting in players of any summoner level gaining access to the system.
2. Players can (somewhat) customize their rune pages to suit their desired playstyle for their favorite champions.
3. Players can set up rune pages to either emphasize the strengths of a champion, or round out their weaknesses by providing them with stats they would've otherwise not had access to.
4. The stat specialties of each rune type provides players with a basic understanding of which 9-of sets to purchase.

THE BAD:

1. The expensive cost of runes and rune pages forces newer players to choose between building a roster of playable champions and facilitating their in-game success.
2. The tediousness of gaining IP leads to a false sense of progress with the lower tier runes, resulting in many players learning (the hard way) that it's better to simply save up for the tier 3 runes instead of min-maxing.
3. The fact that each rune type can dip into stats they don't specialize in creates a complexity of figuring out the best combinations through min-maxing that is far above the expected knowledge of inexperienced players.

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THE REVAMP:

1. Rune pages still exist, but there are now only 4 runes per page - 1 mark, 1 seal, 1 glyph, and 1 quintessence.
2. Rune pages can be set up on the profile page as usual, but can now be changed during champion select.
3. The price of additional rune pages is reduced from 6300 IP to 4800 IP, and can potentially come with certain cosmetic customization options for your profile page and loading screen portraits (colors, icons, border trims, etc).
4. Basic runes now have ranks. They are always purchased at rank 1 for 320 IP, and can be upgraded up to rank 5 for additional IP (320 x Next Rank) for a total cost of 4800 IP to acquire a rank 5 rune.
5. Quintessences cost 2000 IP to buy, and have a rank equal to the average rank of the page's basic runes, rounded down.
6. Basic runes now only provide secondary stats, and quintessences provide primary stats (health, AD, AP).

The required summoner level to unlock access to each rune rank is as follows: Rank 1: Level 1 Rank 2: Level 10 (this is to allow players the opportunity to build up a roster of cheap champions before having to worry about runes) Rank 3: Level 15 Rank 4: Level 20 Rank 5: Level 25 Quintessences: Level 30

BASIC RUNES:

Marks (offense and kill threat): Attack Speed (4/8/12/16/20%) Critical Strike Chance (2/4/6/8/10%) Bonus Attack and Ability Range (10/20/30/40/50, halved for ranges 475+) Lethality (3/6/9/12/15) Magic Penetration (2/4/6/8/10)

Seals (defense and sustain): Armor (3/6/9/12/15) Magic Resist (3/6/9/12/15) Health Regeneration (30/60/90/120/150% base health regeneration) Spellvamp (1/2/3/4/5%) Lifesteal (1/2/3/4/5%)

Glyphs (utility): Mana and Mana Regeneration (20/40/60/80/100 mana and 20/40/60/80/100% base mana regeneration) Energy and Energy Regeneration (5/10/15/20/25 energy and 0.5/1/1.5/2/2.5 energy regeneration) Cooldown Reduction (2/4/6/8/10%) Gold/ 10 Seconds (1.2/2.4/3.6/4.8/6 gold/10 seconds) Movement Speed (1/2/3/4/5%) Bonus Experience (2/4/6/8/10%)

QUINTESSENCES:

Quintessences are now much more unique. There are 3 types of quintessences: Health, AD, and AP. Each type of quintessence also provides 1 of 10 unique effects that can be activated once per game by pressing X, and are designed to drastically customize the playstyle of your champion. (There are 30 different quintessences you can buy: 3 different stat lines and 1 of 10 effects for each stat line.)

Health Stat Line: +3/6/9/12/15 bonus health per level (+54/108/162/216/270 health at level 18) AD Stat Line: +0.4/0.8/1.2/1.6/2 AD per level (+7.2/14.4/21.6/28.8/36 AD at level 18) AP Stat Line: +0.6/1.2/1.8/2.4/3 AP per level (+10.8/21.6/32.4/43.2/54 AP at level 18)

UNIQUE EFFECTS:

Revival: Instantly revives you at your fountain.

Blitz: Gain 100% bonus movement speed that decays over 2 seconds. You ignore unit collision for the duration.

Siege: For the next 8 seconds, your abilities can damage and disable structures.

Fortify: All enemy minions near any ally structures are instantly killed. For the next 3 seconds, all ally structures on the map take 90% reduced damage and cannot be disabled.

Summoner's Might: You may cast a summoner spell an additional time while it is on cooldown (as if it had 2 charges). Doing so will place the spell on its full cooldown.

Alchemy: The combine cost of the next legendary item you purchase within 30 seconds is reduced by 100%. This can only be activated near the fountain, and your purchase cannot be undone.

Distort: Grants invisibility for up to 2.5 seconds. Attacking or casting abilities ends the effect.

Seer: For the next 2 seconds, you can see the map as if there was no fog of war, and can see into bushes anywhere on the map. (Every player gains a HUD color overlay when you use this effect.)

Stoneguard: Your body turns to stone for 1.5 seconds, slowing yourself by 20% but increasing your armor and magic resist by 300 for the duration, as well as granting you immunity to displacement effects. This can be activated while disabled.

Truestrike: For the next 3 seconds, all damage you deal to non-structures is dealt as true damage instead.

CONCLUSION:

This revamp is intended to remove the learning curve of min-maxing and optimal cases for newer players while maintaining control over your customization options. The ranks of runes allow players of all summoner levels to have similar access without necessitating such a huge investment cost to be worth it. The Quint actives function sort of like 1-time-only keystones, allowing players to truly customize their rune pages to suit their playstyles.