The rune system in League of Legends is the most flexible it’s ever been. Champions have multiple legitimate rune pages depending on preference and other champions in the game. So, it’s more important than ever to understand what runes you should take and when you should take them to make informed, meaningful choices. In this League of Legends runes guide, we’re going over all the essential details to help you optimize your rune selections and improve your gameplay.
What Are Runes?
Runes are enhancements that provide new abilities or buffs to the champion. The player can select their rune loadout before the match, during champion select, or from the Collection tab.
Rune paths
The runes are divided into five paths.
- Precision: improved attacks and sustained damage.
- Domination: involves burst damage and target access.
- Sorcery: Enhanced abilities and resource manipulation.
- Resolve: Durability and Crowd Control
- Inspiration: Creative tools and rule-bending.
Each rune page includes runes from one primary and secondary path. The primary path contains one keystone and three minor runes, while the secondary path contains two minor runes.
Additionally, three Shard slots follow a different path than the other five. Each slot can only be filled with one selection.
Understanding Stats
As you explore our League of Legends runes guide below, you’ll come across various stats such as Magic Resistance, Armor, Tenacity, and more. Here’s a brief explanation of each:
- Tenacity: Reduces the duration of crowd control effects by a percentage, with diminishing returns from stacking and a minimum reduction limit of 0.5 seconds.
- Slow resist: Reduces the strength of incoming slows by a percentage, mitigating their impact on movement speed.
- Magic resistance (MR): Reduces magic damage taken, increasing a champion’s effective health against magical attacks.
- Armor (AR): Reduces physical damage taken, increasing a champion’s effective health against physical attacks.
- Life steal: Restores health as a percentage of post-mitigation damage from basic attacks and certain abilities.
- Omnivamp: Returns a percentage of all damage dealt with as health, which is less effective for area damage or pet attacks.
- Ability haste (AH): Reduces ability cooldowns by a percentage, with diminishing returns from stacking, though not affecting displayed cooldowns; it’s the only haste stat shown on a champion’s statistics panel.
Precision
The Yellow Precision Tree provides a range of powerful, aggressive stats and abilities while offering good sustain. It is the primary Rune page for Marksmen and Bruisers alike (e.g., Jinx, Darius, Renekton).
Keystones:
- Press the Attack: Boosts your damage against enemies you attack repeatedly.
- Fleet Footwork: Provides healing and speed boosts after accumulating Energy stacks.
- Conqueror: Gains power as you attack enemies, healing when fully charged.
Slot 1:
- Absorb Life: Provides healing when killing enemies.
- Triumph: Heals and grants bonus gold upon champion takedowns.
- Presence of Mind: Restores mana or energy after takedowns, reduced for ranged champions.
Slot 2:
- Legend: Alacrity: Permanent Attack Speed increase after takedowns.
- Legend: Tenacity: Reduces crowd control duration after takedowns.
- Legend: Bloodline: Grants permanent Lifesteal after takedowns.
Slot 3:
- Coup de Grace: Deals extra damage to low-health champions.
- Cut Down: Deals more damage to champions with higher maximum health.
- Last Stand: Deals increased damage when low on health.
Domination
The Red Domination Tree offers powerful, aggressive stats, abilities, and good sustain. It is the primary Rune page for Assassins and many others (e.g., Fizz, Ekko, Vex).
Keystones:
- Electrocute: Deal bonus damage by hitting a champion with three separate attacks or abilities within 3 seconds.
- Dark Harvest: Deal bonus damage to champions below 50% health. Resets on takedowns.
- Hail of Blades: Gain greatly increased attack speed after basic attacking an enemy champion.
Slot 1:
- Cheap Shot: Deal bonus true damage to enemies with impaired movement or actions.
- Taste of Blood: Heal when damaging an enemy champion.
- Sudden Impact: Gain bonus damage after using a dash, blink, or stealth.
Slot 2:
- Zombie Ward: Replace enemy wards with your own Zombie Ward. Gain adaptive force on ward clears.
- Ghost Poro: Gain vision when wards expire. Gain AD or AP when Poro spots enemies.
- Eyeball Collection: Collect eyeballs on champion takedowns to gain permanent AD or AP.
Slot 3:
- Ravenous Hunter: Heal for a portion of damage dealt by your abilities.
- Ingenious Hunter: Gain item haste and active item cooldown reduction.
- Ultimate Hunter: Reduce the cooldown of your Ultimate ability on champion takedowns.
Sorcery
The Blue Sorcery Tree is a favorite for mages, supports, and any champion who wants extra movement speed (e.g., Gragas, Ahri, Janna).
Keystones:
- Summon Aery: Your attacks and abilities damage enemies or shield allies with Aery.
- Arcane Comet: Damaging a champion with the ability to hurl a damaging comet at their location.
- Phase Rush: Hitting a champion with three separate attacks or abilities grants a burst of movement speed and slow resistance.
Slot 1:
- Nullifying Orb: Gain a magic damage shield when brought to low health by magic damage.
- Manaflow Band: Damaging enemy champions with spells grants maximum mana. At 250 mana, the Manaflow Band restores missing mana over time.
- Nimbus Cloak: After casting a Summoner Spell, gain a brief burst of movement speed.
Slot 2:
- Transcendence: Gain cooldown reduction at levels 5/8/11.
- Celerity: All movement speed bonuses are more effective and gain additional speed.
- Absolute Focus: Deals extra damage while above 70% health.
Slot 3:
- Scorch: Your first ability hit every 10 seconds burns champions.
- Waterwalking: Gain movement speed and adaptive stats while in the river.
- Gathering Storm: Gain increasing AD or AP over time throughout the game.
Resolve
The Green Resolve Tree is popular among tanks, bruisers, and engage supports. It can make you incredibly tough to kill and frustrating for your opponents (e.g., Thresh, Galio, Skarner).
Keystones:
- Grasp of the Undying: Every 4 seconds in combat, your next attack on a champion deals bonus damage and heals you.
- Aftershock: After immobilizing an enemy champion, gain armor and magic resist. After a brief delay, deal a burst of magic damage around you.
- Guardian: Protects you and nearby allies. If you or a guarded ally would take damage, gain a shield.
Slot 1:
- Demolish: Charge up a powerful attack against a tower after being near it.
- Font of Life: Slowing or immobilizing an enemy heals you and an ally.
- Shield Bash: Gain bonus armor and magic resistance while shielded. Your next basic attack deals bonus damage.
Slot 2:
- Conditioning: After 12 minutes, gain bonus armor and magic resist. Increase your resistances over time.
- Second Wind: After taking damage from an enemy champion, regenerate health over time.
- Bone Plating: Reduces damage from enemy champions’ attacks or spells.
Slot 3:
- Overgrowth: Gain permanent health when nearby minions or monsters die.
- Revitalize: Increases healing and shielding power. Boosts effectiveness on low-health targets.
- Unflinching: Gain bonus resistances when slowed or immobilized.
Inspiration
The Light Blue Inspiration Tree is a favorite for anyone seeking utility or efficient ways of earning gold (e.g., Xerath, Taric, Braum).
Keystones:
- Glacial Augment: Immobilizing an enemy creates slowing zones around them.
- Unsealed Spellbook: Swap summoner spells while out of combat.
- First Strike: Dealing damage grants bonus damage and gold.
Slot 1:
- Hextech Flashtraption: Replace Flash with Hexflash while Flash is on cooldown.
- Magical Footwear: Get free boots after 12 minutes. Takedowns reduce the time for free boots.
- Perfect Timing: Start the game with a Commencing Stopwatch that transforms into a Stopwatch after 14 minutes.
Slot 2:
- Biscuit Delivery: Receive biscuits at specific intervals. Consuming a biscuit grants mana and permanently increases maximum mana.
- Minion Dematerializer: Start the game with 3 Minion Dematerializers. Killing minions with the item grants permanent bonus damage against that type of minion.
- Future’s Market: Borrow gold to purchase items.
Slot 3:
- Cosmic Insight: Gain cooldown reduction for summoner spells and items.
- Approach Velocity: Gain movement speed toward impaired enemy champions.
- Time Warp Tonic: Potions and biscuits grant immediate health, mana, and increasing potion duration.
How to Choose the Right Runes
If you are a complete beginner, I would recommend you use the “Rune Recommender” button.
If you are not a complete beginner, I’d recommend you understand all the runes and what they do and follow popular data websites for runes like u.gg or lolalytics.
Rune Recommender
When you hover over or lock in a champion in the Champion Selection screen, you’ll see the Rune Recommender button on the left side of the loadout.
The Rune Recommender automatically selects and suggests the best rune sets for your chosen champion and role and presents up to three options. You can then choose a set and apply it to your loadout.
These recommended rune sets are updated with each patch based on the most recent data, and they contain the best runes available for each champion and role.
