New Rune Update/Overhaul Idea

Hello Everyone.

The current rune system leaves something to be desired. While there is interest and value which can drawn in creating and crafting rune pages as they are now, there is a barrier for players who are turned off by number crunching and an overwhelming number of arbitrary choices. I think this is especially true for newer players who are already overwhelmed by the mountain of information that is League of Legends. My goal with this idea is to refine the current rune system to be streamlined in how players interact with it by eliminating many of the pain points that currently exist, while still maintaining the key things that runes currently provide players in the game. My idea focuses around two key concepts; Core Runes and Augmentation Runes. I think it’s quite simple but an improvement on the current system.

Firstly let me explain Core runes.

Core runes would be a big powerful rune which gives the player a bulk of stats. The stats come in 4 different colour coded bonuses; a purple bonus, a red bonus, a yellow bonus and blue bonus. I will explain the colour coding and its functionality later on. Core runes would be required when wanting to make an active rune page. There would be a number of different Core runes which would benefit different classes/roles in LoL. The idea is you would have 1 Core rune per rune page. Let’s look at some examples. (These numbers are based on our current rune system, the exact stat values are not important and for the examples).

Core Rune of Fevor

• Purple Bonus: 14% Attack Speed • Red Bonus: 8.5 Attack Damage • Yellow Bonus: 9 Armour • Blue Bonus: 12 Magic Resist

Core Rune of Arcane

• Purple Bonus: 15 Ability Power • Red Bonus: 7.8 Magic Penetration • Yellow Bonus: 9 Armour • Blue Bonus: 12 Magic Resist

So, if you’re playing mage then you want Core rune of the Arcane, if you’re playing a marksmen or fighter then a Core rune of Fevor is probably what you’re looking for. I imagine there would be a number of Core runes for the different classes in LoL. Even the names could be more straight forward to make it obvious for newer players if desired. (Core rune of the Mage, Core Rune of the Fighter).

So that’s pretty simple. Choose the Core rune for the type of champion you want to play.

But what if I’m playing Top lane fighter and I don’t really care about magic damage till later in the game? Well next we have Augmentation runes. Aug runes cannot be used by themselves, but would allow you to customise your rune pages so you get more specific stats to suit your particular needs. However all Aug runes come at a cost. This is where the colour coding becomes important.

I could choose to use a blue Aug rune of Scaling Magic Resist;

• • 0.5 magic resist per champion level or 9 MR at level 18.

Since the Aug Rune of Scaling magic Resist is a blue Aug rune, when I put this rune in my rune page , I would replace some of my blue bonus stats from the Core rune and Instead I would get the stats of the Aug rune.

So as an example perhaps I’m playing Irelia Top Lane and I could run a page which had a Core Rune of Fervor, and then 3 Aug Runes of Scaling Magic Resist. I would lose my flat 12 Magic resist, but in exchange I gain 1.5 magic resist per champion level (27 magic resist at level 18). My current vision is that there would be 3 Aug runes slots for each colour. Every time you use an Aug Rune you would lose 1/3 of your Core runes stats and gain Aug rune’s bonus instead. Essentially Aug runes provide ‘side-grades‘ in which you trade some stats from your Core rune to gain the stats from your Aug runes.

Here is another example of a red Aug rune, the Aug rune of Attack speed

• • 5% attack speed.

So let’s say I was going to play Diana Jungle. I could use the Core rune of the Arcane, and then 3 Red Aug runes of attack speed. I would lose the magic pen from the Core rune of the Arcane, but I would gain 15% attack speed instead. Good for those AP junglers.

I hope that all makes sense to you. Here’s what I think is the pros of this system;

• The system creates easy options for newer players with Core runes so they don’t end up with some horrible inefficient rune page and aren’t overwhelmed by mirage of rune choices in the store. Having Core runes which support specific classes of champions allow players to quickly pick up a Core rune which supports the champion they want to play. • Rune pages are still very customisable with Augmentation runes, giving players room to express their own playstyle. • It’s more streamlined. You pick your Core rune and you pick your Augmentations. This could allow for things like customisable rune pages in champ select. • All the heavy number work is done from riot’s side of things; If you know you want more of a particular stat you choose the appropriate Aug rune, and you don’t have to worry so much about completely finely tuning a rune page so you’re not missing out on anything gold efficiency-wise. • The system allows for easier balancing and potential for more rune healthy choices. Riot can easily buff/nerf a particular Core/Aug rune or even add new runes, while still being able to maintain the overall ‘health’ of the rune system. Right now, because of the arbitrary number of choices, runes are very difficult make changes to or give players more options so are often left untouched. Want help out supports? Release a new Core rune specifically tuned for them! Want to help out junglers? Add an Augmentation rune that does extra damage to jungle monsters! • Since Core runes can give the player all the basics, this will reduce the IP burden a lot of players feel when purchasing runes, but Aug runes still allow players to invest in runes if they want to do so.

TL:DR; Player would choose singular Core Rune which would give stat bonuses that benefits particular class/role of champion. The player can then customise the Core Rune’s bonus stats with an Augmentation rune that provides ‘side-grades’ for niche stat tuning.

Thanks for your time, I hope you like my idea. Please Discuss below. If you like the idea, perhaps we can get some attention from Riot.