Should I start maining a champion before getting runes?

SolusInCadere·3/12/2015, 3:21:57 PM·1 votes·1,070 views

Hello, I am approaching lvl 20 (the rune buying lvl) and want to begin maining some assassins mid lane (mobility creep plus I like AD champs plus I like manaless champs which many of these are), but I am sort of wavering because I don't have runes. My fear is I will go into PvP without any runes, be put at a major disadvantage considering I already have to deal with a shorter AA range agaisnt some of my opponents, and quit the role.

Getting less specific, is it a good idea to begin maining a champion or champions before you own rune pages fro them, in order to be good at them when you do, or is it better to buy some "general runes", then costimize them later for the champion you decide to play?

12 Comments

tkmteam51583/12/2015, 3:35:07 PM1 votes

If your content with the champions you have collected and want to main, its totally your choice for runes. Don't worry about getting pages for each champion. You will want to start out with a few general pages and upgrade them as you want.

I chose to purchase a whole bunch of champions, but i own like 1 rune page?

As for PVP, don't worry about it. Although if you ever decide to step your game up and climb aboard the ELO train, you will want them. Its not a huge disadvantage to not use runes in PVP and general normal's, but when you step onto the more competitive ranked scene definitely start building your pages for your main champions.

DatPikachuTho3/12/2015, 3:37:24 PM1 votes

I would absolutely start trying to main a champ before you have the runes, especially since you're unranked. It's very important to be mechanically comfortable on the champion you want to play, even if you don't have the runes. While you're earning IP for your runes, you're gaining invaluable practice with your champ. By the time you have the runes you want, you should have a fairly decent grasp on your champion.

vC48YNoGbJ3/12/2015, 3:50:33 PM1 votes

Share what champions you're interested in. There are some very common runes that can cover a vast majority of champions.

Physical Damage Champions Attack Damage Marks Attack Speed Quintessences

Magical Damage Champions Magic Penetration Marks Ability Power Quintessences

Both Armor Seals Magic Resist Glyphs

Stephenizgod3/12/2015, 3:57:55 PM1 votes

Well they are not all that necessary for PvP unless you want to do Ranked, which you cant until you hit level 30 so you have plenty of time.

There are certain champions that can benefit from specific Runes but overall these are what you want to have (these are just basic common runes until you can customize them more to fit your playstyle):

For AD you want flat Attack Damage Marks and maybe Quints (i have both) Armor or Health Seals and Magic Resist Glyphs.

For AP you want Ability Power Glyphs and maybe Quints (i have both) Armor or Health Seals and Magic Pen Marks.

Like i said these are just basic basic runes that will be very useful for a long time, but you can always customize them a bit more to fit your play-styles and needs. So you dont need to worry about whether to main a champion first or to get runes. Just fill out a AD and an AP page.

Delphinium3/12/2015, 4:34:12 PM1 votes

I would suggest geting flat ad and ap runes page first, it really helps you.

Edit: just get the classic ad and ap runes page first.

RiotRiot Bearly Leah3/12/2015, 6:20:48 PM1 votes

There's some pretty good stuff on runes here. It's a little lengthy but worth the read.

I would suggest you start with standard AD and AP pages as runes can be expensive and these pages will cover a wide set of champions. If you're really looking to build for a specific champion you can. However, I wouldn't recommend it. Also don't worry about not having full runes at level 20. It's honestly not going to kill you. Many people will not have full pages at 20.

Frank3273/12/2015, 6:34:18 PM1 votes

I just don't understand why everyone recommends not buying any tier 2 runes. I know that tier 3 runes are straight up better versions, and eventually those tier 2 runes become obsolete. But if you don't know yet what role/champ you're gonna main, using some of that IP for tier 2 runes seems to me a nice leg up for all those normal games you're gonna be playing. So I just spent 830 IP for +11 armor, +6 MR and +8% AS to jungle easier.